Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish said he is “deeply embarrassed” after “stupidly agreeing” to go to a friend’s house during the coronavirus lockdown.

West Midlands Police had opened an investigation after Grealish appeared to be pictured at the scene of a road traffic accident on Sunday morning after a white Range Rover crashed into parked cars in Solihull.

“I’m deeply embarrassed about what happened this weekend,” Grealish said on Twitter. “I know it’s a tough time for everyone at the moment, being locked indoors for so long and I obviously just got a call off a friend asking to go round to his – and I stupidly agreed to do so.

“I don’t want anyone to make the same mistake that I did, so I obviously urge everyone to stay at home and follow the rules and the guidelines of what we’ve been asked to do.

“I know for a fact that I’ll be doing that in the near future now and obviously, like I said, I urge everyone to do the same.

“I hope everyone can accept my apology and we can move on from this and hopefully obviously in the near future we can all be out and enjoying ourselves again once this has all boiled over.”

Grealish had launched a video appeal for people to stay at home during the lockdown less than 24 hours before the incident.

Villa released a concurrent statement expressing their “deep disappointment” with the 24-year-old and said a disciplinary fine would be donated to The University Hospitals Charity in Birmingham.

“Aston Villa is deeply disappointed that one of our players ignored the government’s guidance on staying at home during the coronavirus crisis.

“Club captain Jack Grealish has accepted that his decision to leave his house was wrong and entirely unnecessary. It breached the government guidelines which are clear and should be adhered to by everybody.

“The player will be disciplined and fined with the proceeds donated to The University Hospitals Charity in Birmingham.”

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