John McGinn has told how he is lucky to be alive after being accidentally spiked by team mate Steven Thompson in an infamous training incident at St Mirren .
The Scotland midfielder, currently tearing up the Premier League with Aston Villa , came within a millimetre of "bleeding out" at the Paisley club's training centre.
That was the gruesome verdict of doctors who worked to seal the gaping seven centimetre wound in the then 20-year-old's leg.
McGinn was rushed to hospital after Thompson threw a spiked training pole during a session only for it to lodge deep in his team mate's thigh.
The veteran striker issued a public apology immediately after the incident in 2015 saying he was "mortified" and that "stupid me trying to be funny, and unfortunately it's anything but. It's a total disaster."
But McGinn, recalling the incident this morning, played down the high jinks.
"There was a possession drill and Thommo kind of ran into the pole and didn't see me turning back," McGinn told BT Sport.
"He went to throw the pole into the ground and, unfortunately, I got in the way.
"It went into the leg seven centimetres and I went to see the surgeon who told me I was fortunate still to be alive.
"It was a millimetre away from the femoral artery so I would have bled out in a minute.
"So that was a bit of a scare."
