“It is Aston Villa,” John McGinn tells Sky Sports. “We don’t make things easy for ourselves.” Even so, they are one game away from a European final. “We have given ourselves a little bit of a harder job but we are confident we will still get through.”
That confidence emanating from B6 has waned of late. The one-goal deficit away to Nottingham Forest in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final was one thing. The manner of the Premier League home defeat to Tottenham on Sunday was quite another.
It has piled on the pressure ahead of the second leg. But if there is a reason to believe, it comes in the unique shape of fan-favourite McGinn. The captain missed the Spurs game as a precaution but expects to be back to drive the team on at Villa Park on Thursday.
Aston Villa captain John McGinn being interviewed by Sky Sports at Villa Park
“We worked hard to get the second legs at home. That was a big aim.” Now, speaking to Sky Sports inside Villa Park, McGinn wants to use that advantage under the lights. “This is a special place. If we get that first goal then this place will be absolutely rocking.”
McGinn has seen a number of nights like that at this famous old ground. He has scored in them too, such as the 3-2 second leg win over Paris Saint-Germain in last season’s Champions League, when Villa really did have the eventual winners on the ropes.
The presence of McGinn will surely help. Eight years into his Villa career, his style of play, that bustling energy coupled with genuine quality, continues to resonate with fans. He seems to feed off them. Six of his seven goals this season have come on home turf.
“The manager touches on it quite a bit. He likes to think I am a different player here.” McGinn disagrees but talks animatedly about the support he gets from the stands and what that means to him. “For me, there is no better place to play football,” he says.
Aston Villa captain John McGinn recently made his 300th appearance for the club
The likeable Scot has admitted in the past that he only really knew about Villa Park from the FIFA video game before he signed for the club. But the connection is very real now. “It would mean everything,” he says when asked about the prospect of lifting a trophy.
McGinn, 31, has done that at his previous clubs. When he won the Scottish League Cup with St Mirren as a teenager, it was the first major honour for the club in 26 years. He then went on to help Hibernian end their own 114-year wait to win the Scottish Cup.
For Villa, the wait has been 30 years. “I know what it means to people,” says McGinn. “I know what it means to supporters who have travelled for years and not experienced success. So I understand the magnitude of the game. We all know what is at stake.”
Still there is a sense that McGinn gets that more than others. It is rare to find anyone so down to earth, beloved both as a player and as a person. He talks of “trying to explain to the new players that this is a club that people live for” – and supporters appreciate that.
I think being captain at Aston Villa is more than football.
“I think being captain at Aston Villa is more than football. It is about realising you are playing for a purpose. We have got a proud history and it is up to us to try and add to that.” In this context, is it any wonder that Steven Gerrard gave him the Villa captaincy?
“He said it was because of the way I treat people, not only around the training ground but around the stadium. That is what I pride myself on. Everyone at this club is valuable and we are all together in one direction. I am proud of the responsibility. I really enjoy it.”
Aston Villa captain John McGinn speaking at an El Gouna partnership event at Villa Park
Gerrard was not the first to spot those qualities in him. There is the story of then Scotland manager Gordon Strachan seeing McGinn offer to help staff struggling to carry mannequins and cones to the training pitch as an under-21 player and being impressed.
Strachan decided there and then that he would call McGinn up to the first team as soon as he got the chance. McGinn knows the story now. He did not know it back then. “I had no idea he was watching at the time.” Of course, that is what makes the tale so telling.
He credits it to his upbringing growing up in Clydebank and to the schooling that he received at St Mirren too. McGinn’s work ethic, on and off the pitch, remains. “I am as hungry today as I was when I was 17 or 18. I want to succeed. I want to keep going.”
He adds: “I don’t think that will ever leave me. I have calmed down a bit with the referees. I do not get as many yellow cards. But I am getting older, wiser, more experienced. That hunger, whether it is at 31, at 37 or 38, that will be there until my last game in football.”
Having recently signed a new contract with Villa that will be a while yet. Financial restrictions have perhaps contributed to Unai Emery keeping this group together so long but it has brought synergy benefits, a togetherness and a greater chemistry on the pitch.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
John McGinn scored twice against Nottingham Forest earlier this season at Villa Park
“There are a lot of players that have been here for a long time. Massive nights, some massive memories.” But the coming weeks could still be defining. Supporters just crave a trophy.
“We have come a long way as a club, but we have still got a lot to deliver on,” he acknowledges. “Lifting silverware as captain of Aston Villa, that is my number one priority.” But can they actually do it?
Turning this European tie around against an in-form Nottingham Forest team will not be straightforward. These Villa players will certainly need to show more than they have of late. “There has to be a massive improvement from last week,” McGinn concedes.
But boosted by the return of the man who scored twice against Forest at Villa Park earlier this season, the prospect of a big night awaits. “This squad has proven in the past that we are capable of delivering in big moments. We need to do that again.”
