John McGinn challenges Aston Villa to ‘break the spell’ and claim silverware this season… with the Villans’ trophy drought dating back to the 1996 League Cup
- McGinn claimed Aston Villa have three chances to end their drought this season
- Unai Emery’s team is seen as one of the favorites of the Europa Conference League
- Chris Sutton tells all about the most difficult day of his career Listen to It’s All Kicking Off
John McGinn has challenged Aston Villa to end a run of almost three decades without silverware by lifting a trophy this season.
Villa play AZ Alkmaar in the Europa Conference League on Thursday, knowing that a win will all but seal their place in the knockout stages. But they are still a long way from breaking the duck that has lasted since Brian Little’s team won the League Cup in 1996.
McGinn said: ‘We have three opportunities (Premier League, FA Cup and Conference League) to break the spell of Aston Villa teams having no silverware.
“It’s one we want to be a part of, hopefully at the end of the season we can be proud of something we’ve done and write our names in the history books.
‘Every player has his own ambitions and dreams. There is still a lot of work to do, but the ambition and goal is to lift a trophy at the end of the season.’
John McGinn challenged Aston Villa to win silverware this season and end a trophy drought
Aston Villa’s last trophy came under Brian Little when they won the League Cup in 1996
Unai Emery’s team are among the favorites to win the Europa Conference League this season
Villa’s rise to the Premier League was halted on Sunday when Forest handed Unai Emery’s side only their third defeat in the competition this season.
That result has left Emery unsure who to pick for the Villa Park match against Alkmaar, which Villa defeated 4-1 in the Netherlands two weeks ago.
Although midfielder Jacob Ramsey will not be ready for this encounter, Emery is hopeful he will be close to returning by the end of the month.
Emery said: ‘I think after the international break he will be more or less able to train with his teammates and try to get close to returning to the squad for matches.’