I MUST BE DOING GREIGHT
McGinn aims to oust Brown for shirt
We still don’t know if Scott Brown will want his Scotland No.8 jersey back for the Euro 2020 campaign.
But if he doesn’t, John McGinn is ready and waiting to take it off him.
The Hibs midfielder is in the form of his life and excel led on the international stage against Holland on Thursday night.
Even against the l ikes of Manchester United’s Daley Blind, Kevin Strootman from Roma or Liverpool ’s Gigi Wijnaldum, the 23-year- old wasn’t fazed.
Along with Kieran Tierney, he was Scotland’s best player wearing Brown’s number on his shirt.
And McGinn admits he’s never played or felt better in his career.
He’s a stand-out for the Hibees on a weekly basis and staked his claim against the Dutch to be a regular starter for his country.
McGinn’s had to bide his time with the likes of skipper Brown and others ahead of him in the pecking order.
But the Easter Road star believes he grabbed his moment for Scotland against Holland and proved that, on his game, he can compete with anyone.
He said: “To start as No. 8 for Scotland was a massive honour. It’s the lowest number I’ve ever been for the national team.
“I was No.14 for the whole of the last campaign. So I’ve told my mum and dad, I’ve gone from 14 to eight – so I’m getting there!
“I managed to get an opportunity in the Holland game and it was up to me to grab that chance.
“I was desperate to do that and I think I managed it.
“To be No.8 for my country was a dream come true and hopefully I can make the position my own now.
“This is as good as I’ve felt in my career so far. I’m definitely playing the best football of my life.
“It’s all credit to the people at Hibs because they’re letting me go out and play. The gaffer Neil Lennon has been great – he believes in me. “He’s put a lot of onus on me to go and lead at 23 years old. “I feel as if I’m carrying that on, I’m developing and feel stronger with every game. I’m fitter and faster than I’ve ever been. “On Thursday night, I tried to impose myself on the game and didn’t want to look out of place in that company. The longer the game went on, I grew from s t r en g t h to strength. “I have to keep t ha t level going now. My confidence is high and I feel I can
go in against anybody right now and compete.
“When you go in against players like Strootman, Blind and Wijnaldum in midfield, you have to distance yourself from the fact they play in the Premier League or Serie A.
“You need to show you’re as good as them or better.
“I feel that I managed to compete and hopefully in the future I’ll be going up against that kind of player on a weekly basis.”
McGinn’s inclusion in Scotland squads caused some discontent when Hibs were operating in the Championship.
But that only fuelled the desire of a player, who’s now valued at £5million by Lennon, to succeed and prove people wrong.
And he was delighted to receive a call from his club boss in the build-up to the Holland game. McGinn said: “I believe in myself. I’ve had to be
really patient with Scotland whenever I’ve gone away with squads.
“But there are a lot of good players who miss out.
“The gaffer at Hibs called me while I was away and told me it was my time with Scotland. He said it took him a long time for people to stand up and take notice of him.
“And he said I should just do what I’ve been doing for Hibs. It’s brilliant to have him teaching me.
“And if I have half the career he had, I’ll be delighted.
“Maybe when Hibs were in the Championship some people didn’t think I should be in the Scotland squad.
“But ever since I was young I’ve always had bumps.
“I’ve been knocked down with people not believing in me.
“But that’s just made me hung r y to be successful. It’s massive credit to Gordon Strachan for calling me up at that time. He had faith in me.
“He continued to pick me when people were slamming the decision.
“Hopefully people are seeing now that I’m a good player and I want to keep that up.”
It was a special moment for McGinn when he was named man of the match against Holland, ahead of stand-in captain Tierney. But he was also thrilled to have started for Scotland alongside his old St Mirren pal Kenny McLean. Both came through as kids at the Paisley club and are now two of the count r y’s top midfielders. McGinn said: “That’s the first time myself and Kenny have played together since our St Mirren days. “We thoroughly enjoyed it and on another day, we could have won the game. “I f irst played with Kenny on my St Mirren debut at 18. At that point, he was the one I looked up to in the squad because of what he was achieving as a young player.
“He was the top man for a few years there and he’s continued that after his move to Aberdeen.
“I’m sure everyone at St Mirren will have been real ly proud to see both of us playing in S c o t l a nd ’ s midfield – it was great to be out there with him.”