John McGinn has warned Scotland have “wee superstars” ready to face England – insisting the gaps between the two nations is “tight.”
The Aston Villa star reckons the English perception that Scotland are in for a trouncing on Friday night at Wembley because the gap is “humungous” is wrong.
McGinn has advised Gareth Southgate that his best friend and Villa team mate Jack Grealish should be in his starting line up because he's “one of the best in Europe”.
But he also reckons Grealish is so good he hopes he stays on the bench because Scotland will then have a better chance.
McGinn was in sparky form at Scotland's Rockliffe Hall training base on Teesside today.
England have won 48, and lost 41 of their clashes with Scotland with 25 draws.
The Three Lions have won three of the last four games with one draw. The last time Scotland won was in 1999.
McGinn said: “In these games if you look at the record between Scotland and England I was surprised at how tight the results were.
“The English media will have you believe the gap is humungous. So it is up to us on Friday to prove that.
“We will always be underdogs. They have a pop of 55m, we have 5m. They have worldwide superstars all throughout their squad, so we will be underdogs.
“But we have a few wee superstars in our team who can play well and cause them problems.
“We compete against these guys week in, week out and we seem to hold our own. The message is we can compete, they are full of top players on the pitch, and on the bench. If we play to our capabilities we will give them a game.”
Grealish and McGinn are stalwarts of Villa's midfield and he was surprised to see his chum on the bench when England beat Croatia on Sunday.
McGinn added: “He is one of my closest mates for Villa and away from football. I hope he doesn't play because I know how good a player he is and what he can bring to the England team!
“I hope from a Scottish point of view he is watching the game and not part of it.
I know what he is capable of and what he can do. I am not the England manager, he decides the team but he is one of the best players in the country if not Europe at the moment and if I was England manager I'd pick him!”
McGinn says he won't bother Villa defender Tyrone Mings and Grealish for team info before the clash. “I won't ask them for their formations or who plays, because I will get rubbish back!
“Tyrone played well the other day and I was delighted for him. I was pleased he proved those critics wrong. If he wants to mess up Friday he is welcome!”
McGinn suffered from being man marked during Scotland's defeat to the Czech Republic on Monday,
“We had a feeling of letting the nation down. There was such a great feeling. We are looking forward to it. I wish the game was tomorrow.
“The gaffer gave us 24 hours to clear the disappointment. We can either sulk or get on with it. It is a game I can relish. If we play to our best we know we can get a result.”
