John McGinn has warned his family and friends not to expect him to get them tickets for Aston Villa’s game against Celtic, especially as he knows they will all be willing him to lose.
McGinn is excited to be facing the club he grew up supporting in the Champions League with Villa, but he admits his heart sank when the draw was made as he knew he would be getting pestered for briefs when the game rolls around in January.
And despite his own loyalties firmly lying on the green side of Glasgow, the Villa captain says he will be going out to do a professional job when Celtic travel to Birmingham.
“Family and friends, they always want to come and see the biggest of games,” McGinn said.
“But when it was Celtic, the phone was going off the hook. I thought about it and I thought, ‘nah, I'd have rather have had somebody else’ because nobody would want to come and see Monaco at home! So, hopefully they can take the hint that I'm not getting any tickets.
“I'm absolutely delighted that it's January. I had that two days with my phone off. Then when I found out it was the last game, I was like, ‘right, I'll deal with that after Christmas’.
“But I just knew. I wasn't watching the draw because I knew it was a one in four chance. So just as soon as I heard my phone buzzing, I thought, ‘oh no’. I know all my pals, all my family, I'm sure they'll be wanting Celtic to win.
“But it's something I've dealt with in the past with St Mirren and Hibs. I've got a job to do for Villa and I'm sure it'll be an exciting game for everyone.
“Obviously it’s my first experience in the Champions League with the new format. It's very exciting for me to be involved in and obviously to play against Celtic. It'll be a bit strange speaking to Greg (Taylor) and James (Forrest) yesterday. We just had a laugh and a joke about it.
“But when the game comes up, I'm sure it'll be serious, and we'll be wanting to beat each other on the biggest stage.”
As McGinn mentions, he has enjoyed some success against Celtic in the past when representing St Mirren and Hibs, and he is hoping for more of the same this time around – even if it puts him in the bad books with his family and friends.
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“I always manage to kind of blank it out I think,” he said.
“You always have your team that you support growing up, your childhood team.
“It never, never leaves you. But when you play for a club, that's the team you support and you've got a job to do. It never, ever affected me as a player. I made my debut against Celtic.
“I always managed to do alright against them. So hopefully it's the same in January. But it certainly will be a little bit different being such a big game.”
As well as the aforementioned Taylor and Forrest, McGinn will be coming up against former Scotland teammate Callum McGregor in the midfield battle.
He is disappointed that he will no longer be playing alongside the Celtic captain for his country after McGregor’s decision to retire from international duty following the European Championships, but with the workload demanded of players these days, he can understand the reasoning.
“It's not taken me by surprise,” he said.
“He's not had a break in the summer for years. How he's managed to do what he's done is a credit to him. He's a great professional, great teammate. And I'm sure if his body allowed him to carry on, he probably would have. He was passionate to play for Scotland.
“And certainly for us, especially the way he's playing, the way he's shooting from outside the box every game and finding the top corner, it's certainly going to be a big loss for us!
“It's been great to play alongside him. I suppose you never say never in football, but Cal's made his call and we respect it and support him. And hopefully someone could step up in his place.”
