Express & Star

Jack Grealish Exclusive: John McGinn backed to boost Aston Villa survival fight

Jack Grealish has challenged John McGinn to replicate his own impact from last season when the midfielder makes his Villa return.

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The influential Scot is expected to make his comeback from a fractured ankle sometime next month.

Grealish helped spark a 10-match winning streak which catapulted Villa toward promotion when he returned after three months out injured in March last year. And he believes close pal McGinn can similarly lift the team in their fight to stay in the Premier League.

“I came back and probably gave the lads a boost. That is what I am trying to tell Ginny (McGinn) to do this year,” said the Villa skipper. “That’s not putting any extra pressure on him, but we know what a good player he is and how much he connects with the fans.

“The game he comes back, whether it is at Villa Park or not, the roar from the fans will be crazy. Him coming on to the pitch will be unbelievable and it will give everyone a boost.”

McGinn has been out since suffering the injury in a 3-1 defeat to Southampton on December 21. Villa travelled to the Saints for the reverse fixture today placed just a place and a point above the relegation zone.

“I keep bantering him and telling him I was missed more last year. But of course he has been missed,” said Grealish. “Everyone knows how good Ginny is and how good he was for us at the start of the season. Just even his character, coming back into the team, will be massive for us. We don’t want to set a limit but if we can get four or five more wins and a few draws then I’m sure we will be fine. We want to get them sooner rather than later.”

Grealish and McGinn have been close since the latter joined Villa from Hibernian in the summer of 2018.

But the skipper revealed how the pair no longer have their Thursday club meet-ups, when they would go out for dinner each week.

“We stopped that toward the start of the season, there was no particular reason,” said Grealish. “But then I started scoring goals, so I don’t really want to see him on a Thursday night anymore! I’ll leave that to him, he can go out with his Mrs instead!”