Jack Grealish needs to show far more than during the FA Cup win over Plymouth if he is to force himself into Thomas Tuchel’s England squad as season begins to escape him, writes NATHAN SALT

Having missed out on a place in England’s squad for last year’s European Championships, Jack Grealish is no doubt acutely aware of the dates for Three Lions squad announcements.

The next one, and the first for new boss Thomas Tuchel, is Friday March 14 ahead of games against Latvia and Albania.

Grealish’s selection is far from a given, in fact it very much hangs in the balance.

Manchester City’s £100million man has had to brace himself for disappointment for a while now. After all, having seen playing time halve last season after being one of the pillars of the Treble-winning campaign, his minutes and influence this time around has shrunk even more.

Here was Grealish’s 14th start of the season – three of them came against League Two Salford City, League One Leyton Orient and now Championship Plymouth Argyle. Two goals – a total surpassed by 19-year-old Nico O’Reilly after his brace here – and five assists this season tell-all on his struggle.

And here was Grealish less than 24 hours after his manager publicly called into question his fitness and conditioning. With sources at City intimating privately that this summer could be the end of the road for Grealish at City, the gauntlet, perhaps the last roll of the dice to extract that Treble-winning form out of Grealish, was played by Guardiola.

‘Listen, Jack played at (Leyton) Orient and played really good, and after he played against (Real) Madrid – Madrid is not a friendly game, right?’ Guardiola bullishly said when pressed on Grealish’s evident drop-off.

‘After 20 minutes, he was out for an injury. It’s happened this season. And after when you see Jeremy (Doku) now or Savio in that position, it’s obvious that they have to play.

‘But the reason why he didn’t play much, he was not able, because he’s had niggles or problems.

‘This is the question, no question marks about his quality. Please, never, ever, ever doubt the quality that Jack has.’

Guardiola wasn’t finished: ‘For problems, he cannot play three games in a row; playing a game against Nottingham (Forest) good, and after maybe he didn’t play and in the training session was injured again.

‘So not big issues, but (Jack Grealish) cannot make a big effort, sustaining again, and again, and again. This is the only question mark – no other one.’

Tuchel will have heard this. Is Grealish someone he can come to rely on in a packed schedule of a tournament like the 2026 World Cup? If his club manager is anything to go by, the jury is out.

Grealish, who turns 30 in September, was busy here if not peripheral for spells. Two blocked shots in the first half after a bright start personally, to go with some neat touches, suggested he was ready to make a statement of his own back to his manager.

But completing what was only his fifth 90 minutes of the season – three of which came in this competition – he faded, as Guardiola perhaps predicted he would having had just 34 minutes of Premier League action across the last 10 gameweeks.

He did complete the most dribbles in the match (4) and was able to produce a smile or two in the closing stages, but he will be under no illusions that far more is going to be required if he is to become a go-to option for England once more.

Grealish has been ticking along at a canter this season and you now feel a sprint to the finish is required if he is to avoid the chop by City amid bold plans for a summer rebuild.

Shackled by Plymouth, hamstrung by injuries and a manager with major doubts over his reliability, Grealish is a player fast running out of time to make his mark on another season that seems to be escaping him.