John McGinn: Fight from the first whistle
John McGinn has warned Villa they must be ready to fight from the first whistle at Wolves tomorrow.
The skipper has impressed on his team-mates the importance of making a quick start at Molineux, a venue where Villa have frequently paid the price for stumbling out of the blocks.
They have lost their last two visits after conceding within the first nine minutes, Toti Gomes grabbing the only goal when Wolves triumphed 1-0 in May.
McGinn, who has been on the winning side just once in seven Premier League meetings with Wolves, is desperate to avoid a repeat.
He explained: “You need to win the fight first. We’ve given ourselves far too much to do at Molineux in the past couple of seasons, letting them get a foothold in the game, losing second balls, losing tackles, and then we’re not allowed to show what we can do on the ball.
“Wolves played extremely well against Man City last week but that’s what they did: they fought for every ball and when the chances came they took them.
“We respect them massively. They’ve got a very good manager in Gary O’Neil but we’re in great form in the league and we need to carry that on.”
Villa head into the match in high spirits after McGinn bagged a dramatic late winner in Thursday’s Europa Conference League clash with Zrinjski Mostar, continuing the momentum from last weekend’s stunning 6-1 win over Brighton.
“When I looked at the clock (on Thursday) I thought if this was a Premier League game there’d be 12 or 13 minutes added so had to speed things up a bit but a the same time be patient, get it wide,” said McGinn.
“Thankfully in the end we got there. It was a big goal.
“In European games this season we haven’t fully quite clicked. We’ll all agree it wasn’t an amazing performance from us but the win’s the most important thing. If you’d told us before the game you’ll win 1-0, we would have taken it as we had to get a foothold back in the group.
“With the other result, it makes it even more important. Overall, it was probably a bit of a disappointing performance but these games aren’t easy. Zrinjski were very hard to play against. They gave it their all and defended as if their lives depended on it.”
Midfielder Boubacar Kamara and forward Moussa Diaby were due to be assessed in training today to determine whether they are ready to return after both missing Thursday night’s win.
Boss Unai Emery, meanwhile, is hopeful left-back Alex Moreno could be back from a hamstring injury after the international break.
