Danny Mills lays into Jack Grealish despite his standout display for England

Jack Grealish earned rave reviews for his standout performance during England's defeat to Belgium on Sunday – but Danny Mills was left unimpressed with the Aston Villa skipper.

While Gareth Southgate's side saw their hopes of reaching the Nations League finals come to an end at the hands of Belgium, Grealish offered England fans a reason to be positive after he ran the show in the second half.

However, while Grealish was universally praised for his impact, Mills decide to offer a more damning verdict of the 25-year-old while questioning what his role is in the team.

While responding to ex-Villa striker Gabby Agbonlahor on Grealish's performance, Mills commented: 'What's his role in the team????? Did he score? Did he get an assist? Did he test the keeper? Sounds like the best attacking midfielder on the planet.'

Mills struggled to nail down a spot in the England squad during his playing days, where he would earn just 19 caps for the national side across an eight-year spell before announcing his retirement in 2009.

He would also feature in place of an injured Gary Neville at the 2002 World Cup, with Sven-Goran Eriksson handing him a starting spot in each of England's five games before they were dumped out by Brazil in the quarter-finals.

Mills would only feature competitively once more after the World Cup while being handed the opportunity of more international minutes in several friendlies in the following years.

The defender-turned-pundit called time on his career as a professional footballer at the age of 32 due to an ongoing knee injury during his time at Manchester City.

And while Grealish didn't manage to impress the ex-England international, Southgate revealed he was delighted with how the playmaker performed against tough opposition.

'Today was a great game for us to see him in. I couldn't speak highly enough of his performance,' said Southgate after the game.

'I thought Jack Grealish had an absolutely outstanding game. Losing Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford, we lose a lot of speed. But I can't fault the attacking play until the last chance.

'I saw what I knew I would see from Jack, someone with the bravery to play... I thought he was outstanding - he should be delighted. I explained to him what we wanted to see when we brought him in in September.'

Southgate's views were also shared by Jamie Redknapp and Ashley Cole, who believe Grealish can now push on and become a key player for the Three Lions.

Redknapp told Sky Sports on Sunday night: 'It's been a long time since you looked at an individual and thought "give him the ball" in the same way Paul Gascoigne and John Barnes were.

'That's what I want to see Jack Grealish do. I wanted him on the ball. Playing alongside the steam engine that's Kevin De Bruyne, he ran the game. He was so confident.

'The bigger the occasion the more you see Jack Grealish play and I want to see him in an England shirt more regularly.

'It doesn't always work out. So many times England fans have wanted a certain individual, but he showed today what he's all about.

'People don't like that he draws a lot of fouls and spends a lot of time on the floor but he goes past people effortlessly.'

Cole added: 'Grealish was pulling the strings and running the show. When you talk about little magicians who can win you games. He's one of them.

'Grealish should go to the Euros if he keeps producing the quality he's currently producing.

'He's got that (Eden) Hazard quality, he can beat players left and right, can get fouls for Mason (Mount) and Harry (Kane) to take free-kicks. He will win England points.'

Grealish himself was happy with his individual performance before claiming he's modelled his game on Kevin De Bruyne and Philippe Coutinho.

Grealish said: 'I absolutely loved it. I think for me, this is what I've been waiting for. These are games I've dreamt of playing in, against the first ranked team in the world.

'I've grown up my whole life wanting to go play for England. Obviously it's a team game and we wanted to go out and win tonight and I'm gutted we can't get the win.'