John McGinn: One word is banned from the Aston Villa dressing room
John McGinn is banning talk of the title from the Villa dressing room after they beat Arsenal to move within two points of the Premier League summit.
The skipper scored the only goal as Unai Emery’s men followed up last week’s sensational win over Manchester City with a 15th consecutive home league victory to break a 120-year-old club record.
City boss Pep Guardiola last week declared Villa title contenders but McGinn said: “I’m banning the T-word. It’s game week 16 so there’s a long way to go.
“We respect everyone round about us who have been in this position for years. We’re newbies – if we can keep it up, we’ll see.”
Asked about the atmosphere in the dressing room, McGinn replied: “I’m pleasantly surprised by how calm and humble we’ve been.
“It’s very easy to get carried away. I’ve got my eye on a few who could potentially get carried away but we aren’t. The celebrations are muted. We are proud of where we are but we are completely alien to this.
“We just have to take each game as it comes, as clichéd as it sounds, and see where we go.”
