Villa mate big fan of Jedinak’s impact

MILE Jedinak’s World Cup qualifying campaign has polarised opinion at times.

But one man who has watched him up close for many years in England is in no doubt about the quality the Socceroos captain possesses.

Melbourne City’s Ross McCormack is technically still Jedinak’s teammate at Aston Villa given the Scottish striker is on loan from the English Championship club.

McCormack has only really played in the same side as Jedinak for six months — the first half of last season — but he has watched and played against the Australian midfielder in the English second tier for many years, namely when Jedinak was at Crystal Palace and McCormack at Leeds United earlier this decade.

And the one-time Championship golden boot winner is a huge fan of Jedinak’s game.

“Of course I rate him, highly,” McCormack said.

“He’s had a good career. He did well at Crystal Palace, got them promoted, helped them stay in the Premier League.

“He comes to Aston Villa, last season he was arguably our best player in terms of the impact he had.

“We were struggling at times and we needed big characters like Mile to drag us through the mire. He did that and he was excellent.”

Jedinak’s year has been plagued by a persistent groin injury on which he had surgery in June. He only recently returned for Villa, but played a crucial 90-minute role in Australia’s 0-0 draw with the Hondurans in San Pedro Sula on Saturday.