McGINN: WE HAVE TO PUT ON A SHOW
JOHN McGINN has told Aston Villa’s squad: “We owe it to ourselves to reach the Champions League.”
Villa’s skipper admits that finding the three points necessary to cement a top-four berth is a tall order with Liverpool and in-form Crystal Palace their last two opponents.
Unai Emery’s injury-hit side crashed out of the Europa Conference League as they lost both legs of the semi-final to Olympiakos.
But now attention turns to finishing the campaign in style, starting with the visit of Jurgen Klopp’s men.
McGinn said: “We are so close. But we just have to focus on Liverpool.
“I think we owe the supporters a performance – and we owe ourselves a performance.
“It has been a long, hard season but certainly one to be proud of. But we don’t want to stop short. We know what we have to do. It is in our hands.
“Liverpool is going to be a very, very tough game, we know that. We have the benefit of other results potentially going our way – but we want to get the job done ourselves and get into the top four, which would be an unbelievable achievement.”
Klopp, meanwhile, has one regret about his final season in charge at Anfield – not relying more on Harvey Elliott.
As Liverpool’s title bid started to crumble, Elliott was left out of decisive games against Manchester United, Crystal Palace and Everton.
Klopp said: “It’s not like I go back and think what did we do wrong but if I regret one thing a little it’s that Harvey didn’t play often enough.
“In January, with a lot of injuries, he was probably our best player, right wing, right midfield, all these kind of things. Everybody came back and he didn’t start any more. He came on and had a big impact.”
Elliott is likely to get a chance to stake a late claim for a place in Gareth Southgate’s Euros squad.
Klopp added: “Some people will find a reason for him not to be there but he is in a great moment.”