Robinson grew up with Grealish at Villa's academy and remains close to the England midfielder despite moving away to further his own career.
But he acknowledges knowing the England midfielder and stopping him are two different things.
'There aren't many options, to be fair,' says Robinson. 'You try clamping him and he'll get about 15 free kicks in one game.
'Don't jump in and try and gamble - because that's what I did every time. By gambling he just strides straight past you.
'He's got a lot to his game so we'll try and find a way to set up and stop him. It's difficult against the top players but we've done well against Harry Kane and Son who didn't have any joy against us.'
Robinson played alongside Grealish as part of an excellent Villa youth side before leaving the club age 21 to gain first-team opportunities at Preston, Sheffield United and now Albion.
'It's a thin borderline between belief and thinking you've made it,' acknowledges the forward about his early years. 'I look back at my time at Villa and think I had a little feeling in the back of my head that I had already done it.
'But I realise now I was nowhere near it. You've got to stay grounded.'
Grealish is the one player from that group who stayed and did make it big at Villa Park. The bond between them remains.
'We are in touch every day. Me and him are best friends and we're in a group chat together, on to each other daily.
'I'm really happy for him at the moment because it's going really well and he's playing on another level doing, what he wants.
'I tweeted after I'd seen clips of him against Leicester that it was like he was playing school football in the playground and having fun. He deserves that because he's a top player. He's been doing it from the age of 14.
'I'm happy he finally got into the England team because he should have been in a long time ago, as everyone knows. He got his chance and he took it.'
Ironically, Robinson should have been playing against him at Wembley last month but tested positive for Covid days before England's game against his Republic of Ireland side.
He ended up watching England's win on TV at home, sipping peppermint tea and feeling sorry for himself.
At least it means he retained his unbeaten record against Grealish, having faced him three times for Preston against Villa in The Championship.
Grealish had been sending messages saying 'Let's Go Bro' before the international date last month. Robinson will hope, for once, his friend stays stuck today.
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