McGinn ready to keep pushing forward

John McGinn insists Aston Villa are keen to continue on the journey they have begun, after a third straight win continued their perfect start in the UEFA Champions League.

The Villans enjoyed another memorable European night at Villa Park on Tuesday, as McGinn’s free-kick opened the scoring in a 2-0 win over Italian side Bologna.

The captain described the ride he and his teammates are on, hand in hand with the club’s supporters, and he doesn’t want it to stop.

 “It’s amazing,” McGinn said.

“Obviously, I missed out on the last night [Champions League] at Villa Park, but three games in, three wins, most importantly for us as a team. No goals conceded, so it’s been really good.

“It’s been a hell of a ride and a journey, but we don’t want to stop here. We’ve got another few tough games. It puts us in a great position, but we’re ready to keep going.

“It’s home for me now. This is my seventh season, we’ve had our ups and downs, it’s been an absolute rollercoaster, but the fans crave success.

“They love to be at the top end of European football and, for me, to just keep jumping up the levels with the club makes the relationship easier.

“Hopefully, we can keep climbing. It might be a bit of an ask, but let’s see what we can do.”

Tuesday also saw the long-awaited return of Boubacar Kamara, who played his first minutes since sustaining a knee injury in February, while Tyrone Mings was included in a senior matchday squad for the first time in over a year.

McGinn commented on the competition for places at Villa Park, and how pleasing it was to see both back involved.

The Scottish international added: “The good thing tonight, Bouba was back in the squad, Tyrone was back in the squad, and we now look really strong.

“It makes it harder to play 90 minutes! You’re looking around at the bench and it just means you can leave absolutely nothing out there.

“Give it as much as you can, and there’s absolute quality on the bench.

“Bouba, Tyrone, they’ve been through so much, so for them to come back into the squad and to add to what we’re building here is amazing.

“Great to see Bouba back, hopefully Tyrone soon.”