John McGinn reveals goal target after helping spark Aston Villa season
John McGinn is eager to continue his scoring run for Villa after revealing his 10-goal target for the season.
The skipper has helped kickstart the campaign for Unai Emery’s men by netting in each of their last two matches.
McGinn scored the only goal as Villa claimed their first win of the season by beating Bologna in the Europa League, before following it up with the goal which put them ahead in Sunday’s 3-1 win over Fulham.
The 30-year-old is already halfway to matching his tally for the whole of last year and is keen to kick on, as Villa turn their attention to Thursday’s trip to Feyenoord.
McGinn described his strike against the Cottagers as the “sweeter” of his two goals to date, explaining: “It’s a lot harder to score in the Premier League.
"Teams are more organised defensively, the tempo is higher, the games are tougher so you don’t get as many opportunities.
“So, it does feel sweeter. A couple of years ago I promised the manager 10 goals and got nine. Hopefully, I can try and get 10 this year.”
McGinn impressed against both Bologna and Fulham, earning the player-of-the-match prize for his performance against the latter.
The club’s longest-serving player, he has already been used in several positions this season but has played in a central midfield role in recent matches, with boss Emery missing Youri Tielemans, Amadou Onana and Ross Barkley.
“I feel good physically,” said McGinn. “I’ve done a lot of work in the summer, trying to lose a bit of timber.
“The older I am getting, I want to look after myself a bit more. I am feeling fresh and fit and thankfully I am quite versatile so can fill in for the injured boys.
“I know sometimes the manager likes to play me higher up but he knows I can fill in there and I am enjoying being back in the middle.”
“Thursday was not perfect. It was a lot better but it was not perfect.
“Sunday wasn’t perfect either because we conceded and can do things better.
“But it was much more like an Aston Villa team of the past few years.”
Villa have won both matches since Emery branded his players “lazy” after a 1-1 draw at Sunderland.
McGinn says the Spaniard remained calm on the training ground as he looked to turn around the team’s form.
“The manager wasn’t throwing his toys out of the pram and getting on to us,” he said.
“He was more focused on his tactics and his style. To be fair to him he was consistent and we went back to doing what we were best at.”
