John McGinn provides huge boost to Steve Clarke with injury return as he closes in on Scottish record
McGinn hands Scotland massive injury boost as he returns from knee issue.
Scotland talisman John McGinn has handed national team head Steve Clarke a massive boost ahead of this month’s friendlies against Japan and Ivory Coast after making his return from a six-week injury layoff.
The Aston Villa captain was forced to undergo surgery in January after suffering a knee injury against Everton, but he has now completed his comeback, coming off the bench as an Ollie Watkins goal sealed a 1-0 first-leg win over Lille in the Europa League last-16 match at Stade Pierre-Mauroy on Thursday night.
Introduced to the pitch in the 77th minute of the game as a replacement for Douglas Luiz, the 31-year-old midfielder now looks likely to be involved in the games against Japan at Hampden on March 28 and Ivory Coast at the Hill Dickinson Stadium on March 31, with Clarke’s squad set to be announced early next week.
“It was a good first leg,” McGinn told TNT Sports. “We know how these games change over two legs. So we've not to get carried away. We could have scored another couple of goals, but Lille could have scored a couple of goals themselves. A better performance, but we've still got a lot to do. It felt nice. [I’ve been out] Six weeks, pretty much on the dot. So it's great to be back out there and to help the team. The more bodies we can get back, the better.”
Having lost three of their last four games prior to the win in France, McGinn is hoping his return can help spark an upturn in form, with Unai Emery’s side set to visit Manchester United on Sunday before they return to Villa Park to take on Lille in the second leg of the Europa League last 16 on Thursday.
With the final of the competition in sight, the Villa captain is aiming to become the first Scottish player to captain a side to the final of the competition since Barry Ferguson led out Rangers against Zenit Saint Petersburg in 2008 (then the UEFA Cup), and the first Scot to captain a side to victory in the competition’s history.
“We needed a wee bit of a reset,” admitted McGinn. “The last month has not been great at all, but we can't dwell on it. We can learn from it. What we need to do is build. Tonight is a building block. We obviously know we can do a lot better, but it's a good result tonight.
"Good to see him [Watkins] on the scoresheet. We showed signs of getting back to our best, but we've still got a long way to go. I'm looking for to it [second leg]. Sunday [vs Manchester United] is a massive game in the league too, it's a tough little run of fixtures, but it's a good start tonight.”
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