John McGinn Aston Villa injury update as Unai Emery hatches plan for return

Aston Villa captain John McGinn picked up a hamstring injury in the win over Wolves last weekend

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has confirmed John McGinn will be sidelined for another two to three weeks through injury.

The midfielder picked up a hamstring injury at the end of the first half against Wolves last weekend and was replaced by Leon Bailey for the start of the second period. Since the start of last season, McGinn has started all 40 league games which he has been available for, having only missed three matches last season following a red card picked up in the defeat to Tottenham.

He will now miss Villa's Premier League clashes against Ipswich Town and Manchester United, plus the club's second Champions League league phase clash against Bayern Munich on Wednesday. Emi Martinez will wear the armband in McGinn's absence.

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"He’s been out for one week and I think he will now be out for two or three weeks more," Emery said of McGinn. "Our expectation is that he will be out for three or four weeks altogether."

"When someone is injured it is not good for the players and for us," he added. "But analysing his performances before he was injured he needed to improve and increase his performance levels. We were working with him on his focus.

"Now he is injured we must stay calm and work to recover as soon as possible - and hopefully we can work on the things he was not doing like he has been doing for the last two years. Trying to fit better into the system and getting better performances from him and the team when he comes back."

Villa head to Ipswich on Sunday in search of their fifth win in six Premier League games, while they will host Crystal Palace next month for a place in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals after also making the perfect start to the Champions League with a 3-0 win at BSC Young Boys earlier in September.

"We have our challenges and it is to be competitive in the Premier League and keep the same consistency that we had last year," Emery said. "Then we had our experiences last year in the Conference League getting the performances we needed. Of course, the Champions League is more difficult but the experiences we had are similar.

"I will try to be competitive. On Sunday, against Ipswich, then against Bayern Munich. On Tuesday, we were competitive in the Carabao Cup and we won. This is the way.

"Each match is a challenge. Each competition is a challenge. To be competitive in different competitions and to be contenders, to get something through the Carabao Cup, the FA Cup, the Champions League and the Premier League. The first objective is through the Premier League."

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