John McGinn’s impending return presents Aston Villa with a positive dilemma

It turns out that Aston Villa, once again, have a selection dilemma. However, in this instance - it’s one of the better dilemmas of the season. Thanks to Jack Grealish’s return from injury and a fantastic 4-0 win against Derby County, Villa have stumbled onto a ‘best case scenario’ when it comes to their central-midfield trio - and now there are four players with incredibly valid cases to start against Birmingham City. Glenn Whelan, Conor Hourihane and Jack Grealish played a great game last time out, but John McGinn is available for selection...

The dilemma? Think of it like this. John McGinn as a player has been stellar for much of the season. He’s rested, and yet he might not enter the first team upon his return from suspension. This is actually a situation that Dean Smith now finds himself in. Aston Villa - with Jack Grealish - have a good midfield, and one that stepped up to great levels against Derby County.

Thus we have a dilemma. John McGinn is usually one of the first names on the Villa team sheet - but due to the reintroduction of Jack Grealish and positive performances from Glenn Whelan and Conor Hourihane, he might just have to settle for a place on the bench.

And what a player to come off of the bench, eh?

It’s a hard choice between dropping Whelan or Hourihane for McGinn - but with the former pair playing such a good match against Derby, should Dean Smith ‘risk’ breaking up the midfield just to shoehorn McGinn into the team? I guess we’ll find out this Sunday.