Former Hibs’ Scottish Cup winning legend ‘Super’ John McGinn will be one of the first to resume playing when the English Premiership restarts on 17 June – subject to government approval – with McGinn’s Aston Villa hosting Sheffield United.
Villa currently sit 19th, two points from safety, but with a game in hand.
While Scottish football remains in turmoil the season south of the border will be played to a finish with matches played behind closed doors and streamed live on Sky TV and BBC.
After joining Villa from Hibs, McGinn quickly became a favourite with the supporters, scoring the winning goal in the Championship Play-Off final to secure promotion to the top-flight.
The Scotland international, who has been out since December with an ankle injury, is now fully fit and many supporters believe that his absence contributed to Villa’s lowly position.
He has been linked to Manchester United and Newcastle United with Hibs potentially gaining from a sell-on fee.
McGinn told BBC Scotland’s Scottish football podcast. “Everyone will be watching so it’s up to us to perform
“It maybe hadn’t sunk in, the position we were in. But being in lockdown given time for reality to set in and now we’ve got a very important 10-game spell.
“We won 10 in a row at the end of last season and, while we’re not naive enough to think we can do that in the Premier League, we need form like that if we’re to survive.
“It’s been a tough season. We spent a lot of money, but it takes people time to adapt to the culture and the style of the league.
“The break might have helped them work on their English and familiarise themselves with Birmingham because they couldn’t go anywhere else.
“Having this date gives us all something to work towards now and, although it will be strange behind closed doors, the importance is still the same for us.”
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
