A distraught Jack Grealish covered his face after being forced off injured in the first half of Man City’s FA Cup tie at Luton. The England star returned to the starting XI for the first time since pulling up with a groin problem at Copenhagen earlier this month, but lasted just 38 minutes before being replaced by Jeremy Doku.

Grealish appeared to pull-up after a sharp turn and pass out on the left wing. However, just moments beforehand there had been a warning signal, with him declining to shoot from long-range despite home keeper Tom Krul stranded out of his goal.

The 28-year-old looked crestfallen as he took his place on the bench, and immediately covered his face with a training top. Teammate Phil Foden was one player to console him, with Grealish seemingly too upset to look up at his colleagues.

Grealish had been recalled to the squad to face Bournemouth on Saturday, but was unused as the Premier League champions held on to win 1-0. And his latest setback came after manager Pep Guardiola had publicly challenged him to force his way back into the side.

“He is the same player, he has the same manager, and the way we play has not changed,” said the Spaniard, explaining why the £100million man has struggled for regular minutes in the 2023/24 campaign. “It’s just the way he has performed. That’s the difference.

“I said from day one, we need him. He has a special quality for our team. But it depends on him. Hopefully he can do a good last three months.”

The development will also come as a blow to England manager Gareth Southgate. The Three Lions take on Brazil and Belgium in as part of their Euro 2024 preparations next month, games Grealish would inevitably have been involved in.

At the time of the playmaker’s departure, City were already leading 2-0 with a brace of strikes from Erling Haaland. He duly sealed his hat-trick moments later, with Kevin de Bruyne notching a treble of assists.

But Luton gave themselves hope just before half-time with a stunning strike from Jordan Clark. And early in the second half the same player volleyed in to make it 3-2 – only for Haaland to immediately strike again to make it 4-2.