Ally McCoist loves what he's seen from Aston Villa's John McGinn as Scotland question posed

Aston Villa star John McGinn seems to be firmly turning a corner regarding his early-season form.

The versatile 31-year-old midfielder didn't get off to a great start in 2026-27 with Aston Villa.

Indeed, his first three Premier League appearances of the campaign passed him by without a single goal contribution and two yellow cards to boot.

However, after finally getting his first goal contribution of the season against Club Brugge in the Champions League, his form has picked up.

A trio of strong showings followed against Nottingham Forest, Coventry and Tottenham, so much so that Unai Emery will have cursed the break.

But as his return to Villa Park nears, McGinn looks primed to pick up where he left off for the Villains.

What did Ally McCoist say about John McGinn?

Some European international teams have already completed their four opening Nations League games during this break.

That's not the case yet for Scotland, as they still have to play Slovenia at Hampden on Tuesday night.

Speaking via talkSPORT on Monday, Gabby Agbonlahor presented a Tartan Army-related question to Ally McCoist.

"Who's been your standout player, who it's been a great international break for?" the Villa icon asked.

"I mean I'm a Billy Gilmour fan obviously," McCoist replied, but that wasn't his final answer.

"John McGinn. You always get the same with John, which you'll be delighted to hear."

So, just how good has McGinn been for Scotland over these last few weeks?

How McGinn ranks amongst Nations League positional rivals

McGinn has started and played every single minute of Scotland's three Nations League group games so far.

He finally opened his goalscoring account in the competition against North Macedonia last time out as well.

Per FotMob, no player in his position in Nations League B has won more fouls (17), duels (81.5 per cent) or created more big chances (two) than he has.

McGinn has also completed all four of his dribble attempts successfully, delivered three successful crosses, made 11 recoveries and has taken six shots.

The Villa star ranks among the best in his position for chances created (six), expected assists (0.50), duels won (22) and shots on target (two) as well.

Overall then, it's quite clearly been a very fruitful international break for McGinn as Scotland take their first steps under new boss Sebastien Pocognoli.

As such, he's of course expected to start against Slovenia on Tuesday, and is likely to play the full 90 minutes once more.

Villa fans can tune into the game live via BBC iPlayer, BBC Scotland, BBC Sport online, BBC Two, BBC Two Northern Ireland and BBC Two Wales.

It's scheduled for a 7:45pm kick-off in Glasgow, and Emery will be crossing his fingers his star midfielder comes through it unscathed.