John McGinn hopes Aston Villa teammate Jack Grealish is left on the bench again

Midfielder McGinn will be on duty for Scotland in the European Championship showdown at Wembley, but Grealish could find himself on the sidelines again after being an unused substitute in England’s 1-0 win over Croatia on Sunday.

Another Villa man, Tyrone Mings, started the Three Lions’ Group D opener but McGinn was stunned to see playmaker Grealish left out.

He said: “Jack’s one of my closest mates at Villa and away from football. I just hope he doesn’t play on Friday because I know just how good a player he is. I hope he’s watching the game and not in it.

“I know what he can do. Jack’s one of the best players in the country – if not Europe – at the moment so if I was the England manager, I would put him in.”

McGinn, who played in Scotland’s opening 2-0 defeat to the Czech Republic, was pleased to see Mings silence some of his doubters with an accomplished display, but won’t mind if he makes a slip or two tomorrow.

“Tyrone did well the other day and I was delighted for him because he’s got a lot of critics,” added McGinn. “I thought his performance shut a few of them up. He’s a good team-mate and a friend, so I was delighted to see him prove those critics wrong.

“If he wants to mess up on Friday I’ll be delighted, but it’s about getting balance. They’re my club team-mates but we’re all professionals, we all have ambitions and whether we’re friends or club-mates, we won’t let that get in the way.”

Grealish is desperate to play and prove to Europe how good he is.

“I’m so desperate just to get on the pitch and prove to people just how good I am,” he said “These are the type of games that I thrive off.”

Meanwhile, Harry Maguire has declared himself fit for the clash after recovering from an ankle strain.