John McGinn ready to support Premier League rivals
Skipper John McGinn joked Villa would be wearing Manchester City tops after a 3-3 draw against Liverpool inched them closer to Champions League qualification.
Villa will be guaranteed a top-four finish if City avoid defeat against Tottenham on Tuesday having opened up a five-point gap over their rivals.
Substitute Jhon Duran scored in the 85th and 88th minutes as Villa came from 3-1 down to draw 3-3 against the Reds.
McGinn said: “We're so, so close to fourth position, we'll get the Manchester City tops on tomorrow and see what happens.”
Villa looked buried after Jarel Quansah’s header gave the Reds a two-goal advantage early in the second half.
The night had begun in nightmare fashion when Emi Martinez fumbled the ball into his own net after 65 seconds.
Youri Tielemans levelled it up but Cody Gakpo restored the visitors’ advantage before Diego Carlos somehow failed to score from a yard out.
Ollie Watkins then saw a goal overturned by VAR after Quansah’s strike but Duran had a huge impact, driving a shot into the bottom corner before profiting from fortune when Moussa Diaby’s pass struck his knee and looped in.
McGinn said: “I know we got a bit of fortune at the end but it's been a tough couple of weeks.
“The manager won't admit it but the boys are out on their feet, we've given absolutely everything, Youri is obviously coming back, playing through the pain barrier.
“This place got us going when we got the second goal, big John, he's a bit nuts, he's a nightmare to have in your team at times but he's got moments of quality.
“The first one was a top finish, but we need to try to keep his feet on the ground for the next couple of days.”
McGinn had called for players to “find the fire” to deliver a performance after last week’s Europa Conference League exit to Olympiacos.
He said: “It's not been difficult for us to lift ourselves, some of us that have never been close to Champions League football in our life, the goal for us is massive.
“For us throughout the season, what has gone under the radar is, you hear about injuries, we're not comparing ourselves to others, the manager has got a no excuse mentality, we've not used it, people keep writing us off, all throughout the year, we've just floated under the radar nicely.”
