Aston Villa captain John McGinn featured for Scotland [credit: The Scottish Sun on YouTube]
Aston Villa captain John McGinn featured for Scotland [credit: The Scottish Sun on YouTube]

Aston Villa star John McGinn struggles as Scotland suffer late loss to Poland

Max Wilkins

Senior Correspondent AUTHORITY Senior sports journalist with experience at GRV Media and VAVEL; University of Derby graduate. FOCUS Exclusive content, statistical analysis, and deep-dive reporting across the Breaking Media network. THE INSIGHT Max utilises a network of club and industry contacts to deliver verified, exclusive reporting and data-driven insight. He provides the intelligence behind the stories to ensure fans get the full picture.

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Aston Villa captain John McGinn had an uncharacteristically quiet performance for Scotland in a 3-2 defeat against Poland on Thursday 5 September.

The Tartan Army began their Nations League campaign with a loss despite coming back from two nil down to draw level at Hampden Park.

Goals from Billy Gilmour and Scott McTomminay were enough to bring the scores level after a Robert Lewandowski penalty put Poland 2-0 up.

A penalty was awarded against Grant Hanley which Nicola Zalewski was able to convert, late in added time, to secure three points for the away side.

Villa skipper McGinn featured throughout the full 90 minutes but failed to have a truly positive impact on the game.

Aston Villa star John McGinn struggles for Scotland v Poland

The 29-year-old could only register 42 touches across the game but converted that into 26 successful passes with an 90 per cent accuracy rate [FotMob].

As a versatile midfield option, he was able to get forward and create a chance for his teammate while also completing one dribble on the night.

The away side were often playing on the counter-attack, which McGinn was able to break up with a 100 per cent tackle win rate but this is where the positivity ends.

For the Villans, the captain is typically industrious and top quality in the duel but at Hampden failed to follow suit from his club form.

This saw him lose eight duels on the night which included a success rate of just 25 per cent in the air which isn't good enough.

Aston Villa, John McGinn
Aston Villa midfielder John McGinn. (Credit: Imago)

Giving away two fouls and being dribbled past on two occasions will be frustrating for Steve Clarke, who demands his team to be more defensively sound.

It was a somewhat off night for the Villa man who will hope to improve in his next clash for Scotland before returning to Bodymoor Heath.

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