It has been another surreal season for boyhood Celtic fan John McGinn in the colours of Aston Villa.
The Aston Villa captain is in the quarter-finals of the Champions League and the semi-finals of the FA Cup, as the season could yet get even better as the crunch moments arrive.
Of course, Celtic had that Champions League meeting with Villa back in January, where McGinn came off the bench, inadvertently assisted Adam Idah for his opening goal, before Brendan Rodgers’ side would go on to lose 4-2.
For that match, a certain Viljami Sinisalo was sitting on the bench, up against his former club, after joining Celtic from Aston Villa in the summer.
Not long after, Sinisalo would make his Celtic debut in the Scottish Cup against Raith Rovers, and Kasper Schmeichel’s recent injury has opened up that number one door for him again.
Over the weekend, Celtic beat Hearts 3-0 to move closer to the Premiership title, and Sinisalo made his league debut by securing a clean sheet.
Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images
Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images
Sinisalo might now be in Celtic colours, but that doesn’t mean he still isn’t being shown the love and support, from afar, by his former captain at Villa.
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John McGinn’s brother, Stephen McGinn, told Go Radio that his younger sibling is still in ‘pretty regular contact’ with Celtic’s back-up keeper.
Celtic fans will, no doubt, love that McGinn is still showing such support for Sinisalo and helping him try to, one day, because the number one goalkeeper in Glasgow.
“Sinisalo can be really pleased with his weekend performance,” said McGinn. “He looked really confident.
“Sometimes you think ‘he is the second goalie’, but he is an international goalkeeper. He has come from a big club like Aston Villa. He knows what standards are like. He knows what being at a big club is like and being ready for your chance. He has got off to a good start as a Celtic goalkeeper.
“John is still in pretty regular contact with him. I remember when he first broke and he said, ‘he is really, really talented. Maybe not, right now, he probably isn’t ready to be Celtic goalkeeper, but he absolutely could be in the next few years’.
“You know what football is like, it can come up for you. Kasper Schmeichel could have some sort of setback and he could be the goalkeeper into the Scottish Cup final for the Treble, so a big opportunity for him.”
‘Big boost’ in Kasper Schmeichel making Scottish Cup final for Celtic
Regardless of how well Sinisalo does, when Schmeichel returns to action, he will regain those number-one gloves.
But given that the Denmark international is out for around six weeks, there is a chance that the Celtic Park faithful see him again this season.
And Stephen McGinn feels playing the Scottish Cup final – if the Bhoys get there – is a realistic target for Schmeichel, and how it would be a ‘big boost’ for the team.
“That’s your first thought, you expect Celtic to beat St Johnstone in the semi-final,” said McGinn.
“Then, your first thought is Kasper Schmeichel would be in goal for the Scottish Cup final, which I am sure is a big boost for him.
“He spoke about following Joe Hart’s Celtic career, and that would have been one of the things that brought him to Celtic, in terms of seeing Joe Hart at Hampden celebrating the trophies.”