John McGinn shared his feelings on his comeback for Aston Villa in the last week.
The Scotsman shouldered responsibility against **Bologna**and **Fulham**in September to kickstart the campaign for his club, but he suffered a knee injury in a 1-0 loss to **Everton**at Villa Park back in January. Injuries for two other first choice midfielders has contributed to a poor run of form in which the team have won just twice in their last ten Premier League contests. Their place in the top five is now in jeopardy, and the group has been calling out for the leadership of their captain on the field.
He returned against **Lille**in the first leg, scoring the opener in the second leg to lead Villa to victory.
“I felt most of the responsibility to get us back going again. I realise what we’ve done to make this place a fortress, trying to tackle hard and get about the pitch. In the first half I probably struggled to get up to the speed of the game; I felt a lot more comfortable on Sunday.
“You get a second wind and thankfully I managed to play past 60 minutes, so hopefully on Sunday he keeps me on a bit longer as well.
“It’s difficult when the team’s not doing so well and you’re in the physio room. I was pretty fortunate out of the three of us (**Youri Tielemans* and Boubacar Kamara) to have the least time out, but I got over it pretty quickly. I knew that it could have been a lot more serious, so I just had to stay focused and do my rehab properly.*
“I’ve been fortunate in my career not to be injured a lot, but I’ve made mistakes previously with rehab, trying to cut corners and do things quickly. I didn’t do that this time; I stuck by it and I feel good now.”