Southgate: Grealish 'was outstanding’

's performance in the game against

, has led the

coach

to admit that Grealish is working his way up the England pecking order.

Grealish won 86 percent of his duels, completed more passes in the opposition half (47) than any other player in the game, and took more touches (76) than his fellow England forwards.

"I sort of explained to him what we wanted to see when we brought him in in September,” Southgate said.

"I think it's been helpful for him to bed in with the group so that he knows the way we want to play and the players get an understanding with him. 

"Today was a great game for us to see him in and to see the level and I couldn't speak highly enough of his performance.

"What I saw, that I knew I would see, was someone with the bravery to play. 

"I think he took the ball in tight areas, his technique was good, he took players out of the game. We knew he would buy a lot of free-kicks, which of course he did. 

"I just thought he was outstanding. He should be absolutely delighted with the way he played."

 Grealish also talked about his conversation with Southgate.

"I said the other day, he's been brilliant with me since I first came here in September. He told me what I needed to do to get into the side and I've gone away and worked on that” he said.

"At the end of the day, that's what you need to do in football; there's only one person that you need to impress if you want to get in the team and that's the manager. 

"He obviously gave me some praise after the game, which is nice."