Article body analysed
By GEORGE GRANT Published: 07: 45 AEDT, 19 January 2026 | Updated: 07: 49 AEDT, 19 January 2026 View comments Scotland boss Steve Clarke will be praying John Mc Ginn isn’t seriously injured after the midfielder was forced to limp off during Aston Villa’s shock 1-0 home defeat to Everton. Villa’s skipper was removed in the 18th minute on Sunday, and his exit proved to be a bad omen for Unai Emery’s men as Thierno Barry scored the only goal of the game on the hour mark. The 31-year-old Scotland talisman appeared to hurt himself while stretching to intercept a pass. He tried to play on following treatment, but was clearly in pain while holding his right knee, and manager Emery was forced into making a change. Asked about the extent of the injury, the Spaniard said: ‘I don’t know, it’s his knee. Of course, when some players are getting injured, it is not good. It is football and we have to accept it. It’s another opportunity for others to play. ’ Scotland’s opening World Cup match with Haiti in the USA is still five months away, on June 14, but national team boss Clarke is naturally anxious to see his top performers like Mc Ginn make it through the second half of the domestic season unscathed. John Mc Ginn calls for help after injuring his knee during Aston Villa's defeat to Everton The Scotland midfielder was clearly struggling before Unai Emery decided to take him off Mc Ginn gives the thumbs up as he leaves the field, and Scotland and Villa fans will be hoping he is okay The former Hibernian and St Mirren star played every minute for his country in the World Cup qualifying campaign, and is top scorer in the squad with 20 goals in 83 international caps. Villa's game plan clearly suffered when the influential Mc Ginn went off on Sunday, and the defeat to David Moyes' side meant they missed their chance to go second in the Premier League table behind leaders Arsenal.
Share what you think
No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts,
or debate this issue live on our message boards.
By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your Mail Online comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to Mail Online as usual. Do you want to automatically post your Mail Online comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to Mail Online as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on Mail Online. To do this we will link your Mail Online account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.