Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has confirmed that captain John McGinn suffered a hamstring injury in our win over Wolves, and is expected to be ruled out for a few weeks.
The 29-year-old has been an ever-present in the side to start the new season, and in addition to the key role he plays and the quality he brings to the team, McGinn’s leadership and ability to set the standard for his teammates continue to be pivotal attributes for us.
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Unfortunately, we will have to find solutions to cope without him for our upcoming games, as Emery revealed in his post-match interview after our 3-1 win over Wolves on Saturday, that McGinn suffered a hamstring injury as he was forced off at half-time, and he’s now set for a spell on the sidelines.
“It is his hamstring,” Emery is quoted as saying by BirminghamLive. “When we arrived here, he had a hamstring injury against Tottenham in the January and today I think it is less than that injury. But he will be not available, I think, for a few weeks.”
The injury blow would certainly seem to rule McGinn out against Wycombe Wanderers and Ipswich Town next week, while sadly it sounds as though he will be a major doubt for our Champions League clash with Bayern Munich at Villa Park on October 2, as well as the visit of Manchester Utd four days later.
There is an international break that follows that clash, and so hopefully that will give McGinn time to fully recover and make himself available when we face Fulham at Craven Cottage on October 19.
Time will tell if there is a more positive update to come next week which shortens that touted recovery timeline, and it’s certainly hoped that there is as the Scottish international will no doubt be devastated if he’s unable to be part of our first home game in the Champions League next month.
However, given the nature of the injury, it’s not one that he can afford to risk aggravating and subsequently spending more time being ruled out, and so it’s hoped that McGinn is able to make a speedy and full recovery, as he’ll undoubtedly have a massive role to play in the remainder of the campaign, and so he’ll want to ensure that this is a temporary issue that doesn’t continue to trouble him or linger beyond October.
