Aston Villa battler John McGinn reckons his Premier League battles are helping him with Scotland.
The Villains midfielder is now a Premier League regular, playing every minute of the Villa Park side’s EPL campaign thus far.
McGinn believes it’s helping him when he returns north of the border for international duty.
He told the Sunday Post (15/09/19, page ten): “You learn more from one game in the Premier League than I did in 40 Championship games last season.
“You’re playing players like the Belgian boys week in, week out, and that can only enhance your game.
“Me and the other guys are thriving down the road- but we need to do it for our country. We need to show those attributes in a Scotland jersey.”
McGinn is fighting for his place in the Scotland side
Despite being an immense talent for Villa in the EPL, Steve Clarke for some reason doesn’t seem to fancy the midfielder as much.
In his four Scotland games, the ex-Kilmarnock boss has benched McGinn twice and started him twice, with the Scotsman not completing 90 minutes for his country under the new boss.
It’s quite puzzling. Midfield is a strong area for Scotland and McGinn is arguably the best of the lot. Alas, he doesn’t seem to be impressing Clarke as much as everyone else.
An energetic player with aggression, good tackling and accurate passing, McGinn faces a surprising task to get into this team. With the experience he is building and as his reputation grows, you’d like to think he’d be a guaranteed starter.
His EPL experience could help the national team, however, Clarke needs to start playing him more often so that McGinn can fully express his ability.