Aston Villa face a pivotal run in our last three Premier League games of the season as our pursuit of Champions League qualification could go down to the wire.
Crucially, Villa were able to get back to winning ways this weekend with a fundamental victory over Fulham, allowing us to temporarily at least close the gap on our rivals in the battle for a top-five finish.
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While we still require results elsewhere to go our way, all we can do is focus on our games and continue to win to put ourselves in contention come the end of the campaign.
A trip to Bournemouth next weekend promises to be a significantly difficult assignment given how well the Cherries are performing under Andoni Iraola, and it may well be the toughest remaining game we have with Tottenham and Manchester United to follow, both potentially distracted by European commitments.
While every Villa player will have a role to play and remain important cogs in our ability to play to our level and get the desired outcome, few are as important as John McGinn from a leadership perspective and with his ability to set the standard and tone for our performances.
Our midfield metronome Youri Tielemans continues to dazzle in the middle of the pitch, Morgan Rogers is a driving force in the attacking third while Boubacar Kamara is a vital presence to help us establish control in games with his quality in both phases.
However, fresh from his 200th Premier League appearance, McGinn has a unique ability to raise the team’s level with how he is able to impose himself on the opposition.
His tenacity, tireless work ethic, physical strength to hold off pressure and get us on the front-foot and the intensity and energy he plays with are all fundamental qualities that can play a major part in our ability to get positive results.
Whether it’s a strong, fully-committed tackle to win possession and swing momentum in our favour or using his physical qualities to turn out of pressure, break the lines and set us on the attack in a dangerous move, he has a massive role to play as he can be hugely influential.
The Villa skipper may not play the entire 90 minutes in all three of our upcoming games, but if he starts well, the rest of the Villa line-up usually follow suit, and so it’s hoped that he can lead by example at Bournemouth, and help set us on our way to obtaining three critical points.
He summed it up perfectly in his post-match comments on Saturday, as he conceded that our defeat to Crystal Palace at Wembley in the semi-final of the FA Cup hurt the players just as much as the supporters, and a win over Fulham doesn’t make up for that bitter disappointment and frustration.
McGinn will get that message across to the players and along with Unai Emery, will demand more from all concerned to help us get over the line and achieve our ultimate objective in the Premier League this season, and so hopefully this time next week we’re talking about our captain being a big reason behind our win on the south coast.