John McGinn dreaming of trophy after Aston Villa Conference League lesson

Victory in Holland was preceded by a 3-2 defeat for Unai Emery’s team at Legia Warsaw and a last-gasp win over supposed Group E minnows Zrinjski Mostar, courtesy of McGinn’s header.

The skipper said: “The outside perception is we will be there towards the end of the competition.

“We are embracing that and we know we are one of the biggest teams in the competition, but that doesn’t mean we turn up and beat anyone. The Legia game was good for us, a huge learning curve. Teams will punish you and we got punished that night.

“As much as we didn’t want to lose, it has given us a platform to respect every team who play.

“Zrinjski came to us and it was a huge effort from them but I think we approached that game much better than Legia.

“Against Alkmaar, the performance was professional and clean. Carrying on in the competition, we will be taking no-one for granted especially after the feeling we had in Poland. The perception from the outside is that it’s just the Conference League and Villa will turn up and win, but it’s not like that at all.”

Despite the caution, McGinn acknowledges the Conference League represents a huge chance for Villa to win their first major trophy since the 1996 League Cup win.

“Each player has their own ambitions and dreams,” he added. “You think about it, of course you do.

“But there’s still a lot of work to do. Our ambition and goal in every competition we go into is to be lifting the trophy at the end of the season. This competition his no different to the Premier League or the FA Cup, we’re obviously not in the Carabao Cup, but we have three opportunities to try and break that spell of Aston Villa teams not having any silverware.

“That would be a huge achievement. We all aspire to be part of that. Hopefully by the end of the season we can be proud of something we have done and can write our names in the history books.”

Alkmaar dropped points in the Dutch League for just the second time this season with a 1-1 draw at Excelsior last weekend but while Villa were comfortable winners in their first meeting, McGinn believes the match was closer than the scoreline suggests.

The hosts too will be looking for a response after Sunday’s 2-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest, as they target a 13th win in 14 matches at Villa Park in all competitions.

“It’s a great time to play at Villa Park,” said McGinn. “It’s the first time in a long time that the fans have full trust and belief in us as players. The support is there and it’s a great place to play football. It is a fortress. It can quite easily change, football changes so quickly, so we can’t be naive to think we will just turn up and win there. It’s a really impressive run that we’re proud of and one we want to extend.

“Over in Alkmaar, the scoreline would suggest it is comfortable but for large parts it wasn’t comfortable. We’re coming up against good team and we’re pretty inexperienced at this level. We’re getting better and we are gradually improving. All three teams in the group have given us huge tests so far, but hopefully we can now push on and qualify.”