Aston Villa have won eight games on the bounce in the Championship and they will be looking to make it nine in a row against Bolton on Friday.
BBC pundit Garry Thompson has admitted that he would take John McGinn out of the starting XI for Aston Villa’s last two games as he edges towards a worrying 15 bookings for the season.
Over the weekend, Villa beat promotion rivals Bristol City 2-1 and McGinn was shown his 13th yellow card of the campaign during that encounter.
If he is booked on two more occasions before the season draws to a close then he would have to serve a three-match suspension which would filter its way into the playoffs [The Mirror], if Villa secure a top-six finish that is.
Speaking to BBC Radio West Midlands Football Phone-in, former Villa striker Thompson spoke about the current McGinn situation and what he would do with the Holte End favourite.
“You look at the next two games potentially they are winnable,” Thompson told BBC Radio WM. “Potentially win them and you are in the playoffs, I’d imagine, so you’d take him out for the last two.
“I mean the chances of him getting booked in the next two games, Friday and Monday, I was going to say slim, but looking at John McGinn. If he gets booked against Bolton then you would have to just leave him out, wouldn’t you?!”
During these last few weeks, McGinn has been Villa’s standout star as he has put in a number of match-winning performances for his promotion-chasing side.
In March, he came off the bench to change the tempo of the game and help Villa beat bitter rivals Birmingham City, whilst he has also found the back of the net against the likes of Nottingham Forest, Middlesbrough and Sheffield Wednesday.
Villa will travel to Bolton on Friday before hosting Millwall in the Midlands. They will then take on automatic-chasers Leeds United at Elland Road before Norwich travel to Villa Park for the final game of the regular season.
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