Leeds United 'used Jack Grealish for target practice'. Aston Villa boss Dean Smith hits out at Whites' treatment of star midfielder

Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips challenges Aston Villa's Jack Grealish at Elland Road.

Smith hit out of Leeds’ treatment of the midfielder during a heated Championship clash which resulted in a bizarre unopposed goal scored by Villa’s Albert Adomah in the second half.

Adomah was allowed to tap the ball into an unguarded net on 77 minutes after Mateusz Klich opened the scoring for Leeds while Villa striker Jonathan Kodjia was lying injured on the halfway line.

Villa were on a run of 10 straight wins before today’s clash and have qualified for the play-offs but Grealish struggled to dictate the game amid close attention from Kalvin Phillips and others in Marcelo Bielsa’s midfield.

United captain Liam Cooper was booked for a first-half foul on Grealish and Smith said: “I think had a little bit of target practice on him today. He's got a few bumps and lumps on his shins.

“Kalvin Phillips was stuck to Jack Grealish for most of the game, fouled him a few times and never got a caution for it.

“We feel a little bit aggrieved. Cooper has probably deserved a yellow card for his tackle on Jack. The follow through could have really hurt him. He's got a big lump on his knee but it was a highly competitive game.”

Smith later told Villa's official website: "He has to be protected more than he is. because he's a talented player and the officials need to make sure that these sorts of talents are protected."

Leeds and Villa are likely to avoid each other in the play-off semi-finals, with United set to finish third and Villa currently in fifth place.

Asked about a possible meeting in the play-off final at Wembley, Smith said: “We’ll obviously have one eye on it but we’ve got Norwich first next Sunday.

“I thought it was a game between two good teams and I’ve got every respect for the way Leeds play. They can feel themselves unfortunate that they’ve not got promoted.

“They’ve got the highest running stats, the highest number of chances created and Marcelo alluded to it, they haven’t been efficient enough. That’s the only reason they’re not in there (the top two). They’re certainly going to be a problem in the play-offs.”