The boyhood Celtic supporter came on as an early replacement for the injured Matty Cash, who had to be taken off in the first half of January’s so-called ‘Battle of Britain’ between the two sides.
Even still, the Scotland stalwart was disappointed not to start the game, despite only recently coming back from a lengthy injury of his own. Previewing Scotland’s Nations League tie with Greece, former Hibernian and St Mirren midfielder McGinn said: “I was gutted not to start the game after working so hard to get back fit.
“I was even more devastated at half-time when the aggregate score of me coming on was 2-0 Celtic. So the story was written, the narrative was there, I could feel it. I got my first assist for Celtic, one of those ones...
“But it was a strange night, obviously even seeing some of the backroom staff who split some time between here and Celtic, it was strange. But thankfully for us, it was a massive night, a really important victory in the end.
Read more:
McGinn made no secret of the fact that loyalties were split on the night of the game, given his own personal preferences, as well as those present in his family.
Touching on where his camp had allegiances with during the European fixture, McGinn said: “There was certainly a story written at half-time which was challenging.
“Some of them (my family) were probably celebrating it at the time to be honest, which made the night trickier! At half-time, the manager was really good because he knew it was just one of those things. Celtic had scored two good goals, but we'd started the game on fire.
“I actually spoke to Tony Ralston about it this morning. One minute I’m sitting a couple of yards away from him and I said, ‘I'm not getting on here’. Three minutes later, no real warm-up, I'm on the pitch and it's 2-2.
“That was another great night under a lot of pressure, and hopefully, I can use those experiences to deliver a performance for Scotland.”
The 30-year-old has played against a plethora of good teams this season, both domestically and in Europe – including, in his, opinion, Celtic.
When asked if Celtic had proved themselves in Europe in Birmingham that night, McGinn said: “Yeah, 100 per cent. I think a lot of teams... if you lose two goals early at Villa Park, we've got a brilliant record there this season. I think we've only lost once in the league and not at all in Europe this season.
“They had a choice to crumble, sit in, make it less painful or keep playing the way they did and they did it in fairness. I thought they were excellent on the night and obviously, a few of my teammates and the staff were very impressed.
“But the manager (Unai Emery) showed them the utmost respect before the game. We watched a lot of their European games in detail, and he was impressed, but thankfully we just managed to edge it.”
Aston Villa ultimately won the game 4-2 on the night, thanks to a hat-trick from Morgan Rogers and an Ollie Walkins strike. Adam Idah scored a brace for Celtic, as both teams progressed to the play-offs and last 16 respectively in the competition