John McGinn welcomes key change in relentless schedule
John McGinn believes the winter break has come at the right time for Villa as they prepare for a busy second half of the season.
The skipper admitted he and other players were in need of a rest with Villa having already played 31 matches to this point of the campaign.
Unai Emery’s men are still battling on three fronts and resume their season with an FA Cup fourth round tie at Chelsea next Friday.
McGinn said: “We have a bit of a rest now and to be fair, I need a break, I think a lot of the boys do.
“It was a very challenging year, 2023. This will probably be the only opportunity I have in the next week to rest before what is another very important year.
“I am going to rest, get rid of the aches of pains and get ready for what is going to be a big second half of the season.”
Villa sit third in the Premier League and are through to the last-16 of the Europa Conference League.
Asked about targets for the rest of the season, McGinn replied: It is very hard to say. It all depends on other results.
“Last Saturday you are watching the game, thinking Man City are dropping points, then you are thinking we have an opportunity to get away from Newcastle.
“But the games and the table changes so quickly. It is up to us to keep ourselves in the mix and keep challenging those teams, keep being a team which is up and around those places and try and achieve something we haven’t achieved in a long time.
“If we improve on seventh and try and get top six, if we can secure top six then, you never know.”
