The assailant has now been identified as father-of-one Paul Mitchell, who is thought to live in Birmingham.

A determined Grealish had the last laugh by picking himself up after the vile assault and scoring the match-winning goal in the second-half. 

The incident occurred in the ninth minute of the game when Mr Mitchell wearing a flat cap ran onto the field from the Tilton End and punched Grealish in the head from behind.

The 23-year-old fell to the floor but thankfully did not appear to be badly hurt. A steward, helped by both sets of players, then restrained the man.

Shortly after the incident Grealish scored what would end up being the match-winning goal and jumped over the hoardings to celebrate. 

A steward restraining him appears to kick the Aston Villa captain and is later led away by police.

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Mitchell was quickly restrained by stewards as several other Villa players rushed in to confront him 

What a disgrace! We’ve never seen anything like this!

A Birmingham ‘fan’ has run onto the pitch and punched Jack Grealish in the back of the head! pic.twitter.com/2x50XGrRqD— Soccer AM (@SoccerAM) March 10, 2019

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Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish has been assaulted by a man during the Birmingham derby

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 He struck the midfielder in the head with his right hand from behind, knocking Grealish over

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 Thankfully the 23-year-old did not appear to be badly hurt and the man was restrained

In the shocking incident the man sprinted onto the field in the ninth minute and struck Grealish with some force – to cheers from some supporters. 

The intruder was quickly restrained by stewards as several other Villa players rushed in to confront him. 

The Aston Villa bench were all on their feet to check on Grealish while Birmingham City players came over to apologise to the Villa captain.

Grealish later smashes home a goal in the second-half and leaps over the hoardings to celebrate with Villa fans. 

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