Aston Villa midfielder John McGinn looking forward to "strange" reunion with former boss Steve Bruce

Villa come face-to-face with their former boss at Hillsborough, with McGinn admitting it will be ‘strange’ to go into battle with the man who brought him to the Championship.

The Scot was arguably the finest signing of Bruce’s two-year spell at Villa Park when he arrived in a £2.75million deal from Hibernian last August.

Bruce was axed and replaced by Dean Smith two months later but is unbeaten since taking the reins at Wednesday at the start of February.

The Owls trail sixth-placed Villa by four points in the table, meaning Saturday’s clash could have big consequences in the play-off race with just six games remaining after the weekend.

McGinn said: “It will be strange. I’ve got a lot of time for Steve Bruce. He brought me to the club and he is a manager I’ve got a lot of respect for.

“He was fantastic with me in the time he was here and Sheffield Wednesday are on a brilliant run, so we are under no illusions about how difficult it is going to be.

“If we play at our best, hopefully we will get three points. Is there any more motivation? Not at all. We need to treat it the way we’ve been treating all the games.”

Villa head into the game seeking a sixth straight league victory and McGinn added: “You can see the confidence flowing through all the players. We’re all at the top of our game and I think everyone at the club is enjoying watching us and we are enjoying playing.

“Hopefully it can continue and we can sneak into the play-offs.”