JOHN MCGINN may be gifted a late Christmas present in the form of playing in a dream match-up against his boyhood heroes.
The Aston Villa captain and Scotland talisman has been sidelined with a hamstring problem of late, having picked up the injury in a game against Leicester City on January 4.
John McGinn is desperate to face the team he supported as a boy[/caption]
McGinn was forced off after just 19 minutes in the Premier League clash and immediately he feared he would miss the game against Celtic at the end of the month.
The Battle of Britain fixture is scheduled for January 29 at Villa Park and McGinn has publicly spoken about how excited he was to face the Hoops having supported them as a boy.
When the draw was made he (and many others) immediately circle the date and began to look forward to it.
With hamstring injuries normally taking around three weeks to recover from, that put McGinn on the brink of missing out on the Champions League showdown.
But boss Unai Emery has provided a positive update – for Villa fans anyway – suggesting that McGinn is only a week or so away from returning to action.
Villa play Everton tomorrow night before travelling to the Emirates to play Arsenal on Saturday evening.
McGinn could be back in contention for the match in North London but if not, he may be given a run out against Monaco the following Tuesday or West Ham on Sunday 26.
But Villa team mates Ross Barkley and Pau Torres look like certs to be absent when Celtic come to Birmingham.
Emery told reporters at a press conference today: “Ross Barkley is two, three weeks more.
“(John) McGinn will need one-week minimum to be more or less close to being with us.
“Pau Torres will need another six to eight weeks more.”
McGinn, 30, revealed he had been besieged by requests for Celtic tickets for the big game.
He said: “Obviously a lot of my family and friends are wanting tickets but they’re not to be trusted!
“I mean they’ll send us a message, can you get us tickets? And I say, aye but you can’t cheer a Celtic goal, and then I don’t get a reply.
“I’m afraid I’m the home end, but though it’ll be strange I’m obviously looking forward to it and hopefully we can get the win.
“Everyone keeps saying to me they hope both teams are qualified, which is a possibility.
“But I think when you’ve got an essential Battle of Britain, as they call it, it’s always going to be feisty.”
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