DOUBLE MCGINN & TONIC

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TWO-GOAL John Mcginn got Aston Villa roaring back into the promotion hunt.

Three successive wins have pushed Villa to two points outside the Championship top six, with fading, fifth-placed Middlesbrough to come on Saturday.

Mcginn was Steve Bruce’s last permanent signing for £2.75million before being sacked five months ago – and successor Dean Smith is reaping the benefit.

Villa’s mid-season slump looked to have put them well out of the promotion race, but their current four-game unbeaten run has turned things around.

Forest boss Martin O’neill, the last Villa manager to get the club into the Premier League’s top six, nine years ago, watched his old club’s revival at his expense.

O’neill had hopes of Forest closing in on the top six when Jack Colback gave them a third-minute lead. But Mcginn, who might have had a hat-trick, wrecked that dream.

Joe Lolley gave Villa, the team he has supported all his life, something to think about with a tremendous jinking run from halfway.

From then on, Forest got lucky because Colback was looking to cross the ball, but instead finished up lobbing keeper Jed Steer.

Villa’s response was pretty instant. Colback unwittingly played a part in this goal as well, being outmuscled by Mcginn, who then went on to smash the equaliser past Costel Pantilimon in the seventh minute.

Mcginn (left) was in again, eight minutes later, hitting a 25-yarder just inside Pantilimon’s left-hand post.

Sixteen minutes into the second half and the game was taken off Forest. Conor Hourihane’s free-kick from the left wing should have been dealt with by any combination of keeper and defender. But no one moved and Kortney Hause was close to the goal line when he put the ball over.

Sub Jonathan Kodjia with a shot across the face of goal and impressive Mcginn, with a shot touched on to the post by Pantilimon, could have had more.