Smith played his cards right over key man McGinn

MANAGER Dean Smith made five changes to his Villa starting XI for the FA Cup defeat to Swansea – but he never planned to rest midfielder John McGinn.

The 24-year-old has become an incredibly popular figure at Villa Park since his summer transfer from Hibernian.

The Scotland international has scored twice this season, but goals aren’t the only thing he has been picking up.

McGinn has already missed one game through suspension and is walking a disciplinary tightrope again having accumulated nine yellow cards – one away from another ban.

Some fans thought McGinn would be rested against the Swans, but Smith explained that yellow cards in the FA Cup don’t count in the EFL.

He said: “John McGinn was probably a surprise inclusion for many because he’s on nine cautions. Cautions in this game are competition specific so it doesn’t matter if he gets booked.

“Certainly, between now and March, I expect him to get cautioned and if he does he’s got a two-game rest, so he can rest then. There was no reason to leave him out of the game, even with the mileage that he’s clocked up.”

The next yellow card amnesty kicks in after 37 league fixtures which, providing there are no postponements, should come on March 13 against Nottingham Forest.