Unai Emery makes feelings clear about John McGinn after Aston Villa dressing down

Aston Villa midfielder John McGinn is ready to respond after Unai Emery admitted his performances required improvement

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery is expecting John McGinn to improve his level of performance after returning from a hamstring injury.

The Scot came off in the first half of Villa's 3-1 win against Wolves last month and missed the club's next four matches in all competitions, including the 1-0 win over Bayern Munich in the Champions League. McGinn returned to training at Bodymoor Heath over the international break and is available for selection against Fulham on Saturday.

Villa are looking to return to winning ways in the league after drawing their last two matches in the competition against Ipswich Town and Manchester United. Before Villa's stalemate against Erik ten Hag's side before the October international, McGinn spoke with the with the Viaplay Sports team about what Emery had said to him the day before the game.

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"He’s [Emery] so intense," the midfielder explained. "He called me in and said ‘you were very poor against Wolves, you need to improve when you're back or you'll be out'. I thought he was having a nice chat with me!"

Asked in his press conference about McGinn ahead of Villa's trip to Fulham, Emery said: "After three weeks he started training with us and he is feeling good, progressively getting better. Of course, we pushed him and now we want the response off him.

"He is amazing as a person and as a professional in the dressing room with his teammates. For me as well as a captain and a person. I appreciate him. I love him a lot!

"Then, I want the best of him because the best of him is for the best of me as well. He is aware now that he wasn’t playing with the performance we wanted and he is now going to come back stronger than before he had the injury."

Amadou Onana and Jacob Ramsey, who also missed the clash with United, are fit to feature against Fulham. As are Ezri Konsa and Jaden Philogene, while Tyrone Mings and Boubacar Kamara are available for selection after their respective long-term ACL injuries.

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