Grealish is a good guy, with a great heart

Grealish missed Everton training without permission and was dropped for the League Cup tie; Manchester City manager Maresca defended his character.

Jack Grealish, on loan at Everton from Manchester City, was excluded from Thursday's League Cup round-of-16 match against Newcastle after missing training without the club's permission on Monday. Everton won the tie 3-1 under David Moyes.

When asked about Grealish on Friday, Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca offered a defence of the winger's character. "He's a good guy, a good person, with a great heart. I still think that," Maresca said at his press conference. Grealish completed pre-season with City and played 45 minutes in the Community Shield loss to Arsenal in August before his second loan spell to Everton.