Dean Smith believes rival Premier League managers would love to have John McGinn in their ranks but, speaking to the Birmingham Mail, he says the Aston Villa midfielder must still improve his distribution.
It is hard to believe that, on Wednesday night, McGinn found the net in the Premier League for the first time since October’s 7-2 thumping of Liverpool.
After all, it’s not as if the former Hibernian dynamo has struggled to put the ball in the back of the net on international duty.
In his last 14 Scotland outings, McGinn has scored 10 times.
Then again, there might be a rather obvious reason why the 26-year-old has found goals harder to come by at club level.
Smith tends to field McGinn in a deeper role on a weekly basis, leaving the creativity to the likes of Jack Grealish, Ross Barkley, Trezeguet and Anwar El Ghazi.
But, with each of the aforementioned quartet either unavailable or omitted against Manchester City, McGinn offered a timely reminder of his attacking qualities, opening the scoring from an Ollie Watkins pass after just 20 seconds.
“Yes. I was really pleased for McGinn to get the goal. He’s one of our unsung heroes at times; his work-rate and what he gives to the team is exceptional,” Smith said.
“He’ll be the first to admit at times that his passing could be better but he gives us everything. He deserves that goal.
“He’s been playing a little bit deeper at times this year and doing fantastically well. He’s the envy of a lot of the Premier League managers whenever we play against them.”
McGinn’s first goal in six and a half months counted for little in the end, however, with Phil Foden and Rodri finding the net themselves as Manchester City moved to within three games of the Premier League title.
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