McGinn dazzled by Jason
JOHN McGINN admits he wasn’t convinced by Jason Cummings when he first set eyes upon him. Now? Well, the difference is striking. In every sense. The raw teenager McGinn once faced in his days with St Mirren has gone. In his place is a finely-honed forward, whose 15 goals this season have placed his name on the January wanted lists of numerous English clubs.
Since joining Hibernian last summer, McGinn admits he has been really blown away by the ‘inspirational’ progress he has witnessed from Cummings.
Week by week, the 20-year-old is delivering performances that underline the depth of his talent.
‘Even when I played against Jason, when he first came into the side, I wasn’t really sure about him and if he was good enough for Hibs but he has come on leaps and bounds,’ reflected midfielder McGinn.
‘He is a joy to work with. He is good for me because he is always running and always giving defences a hard time. And he has matured an awful lot.
‘He is still Jason off the pitch and you get what Jason gives you. But on the pitch, he takes the bumps off defenders, he holds it up and he can score brilliant goals. He will go a long way, I’m sure.
‘Playing against him twice, he didn’t have the best of games. But he has been the one since I came here who has really impressed me and shown me he has more than I thought he had. That is credit to him. ‘He has listened to the people around him and he has played with some experienced strikers. He just soaks it all in and learns from them and, as you can see, he is just getting better and better as the season goes on.
‘Quite a lot of the boys are developing well and that is credit to the coaching staff here. ‘They pick up on flaws and they try to help improve them. Even personally, I have learned a lot since I came here and we can use Jason as an inspiration.’ Inevitably, finance will dictate how long Cummings remains at Easter Road. If you stick a pin into the English Championship table, there is a fair chance you would hit a team whose scouts have been tailing him.
Bids may well follow this month, risking the removal of a key component of Hibs’ push for promotion.
McGinn obviously hopes that Cummings will remain in situ come February 1. But he has no fears about his Scotland Under-21 colleague being distracted by the mounting interest.
‘I don’t think we are planning on losing anyone,’ said McGinn. ‘Jason is on top form, so speculation will come his way. But he is used to it. He has seen it happen to other boys and he knows what to expect.
‘The kind of character he is in the dressing room, it certainly won’t bother him but he is not a player we want to lose.
‘The more people who are watching him, the better he plays. He thrives under the attention and it doesn’t seem to faze him at all.
‘That is a massive credit to him and it is great to have a guy who has that confidence and composure in the team.’
Those attributes were certainly stamped all over the chipped finish that gave Hibs the lead at Ibrox on Monday. Yet Alan Stubbs’ side were unable to build upon the foundation Cummings supplied, as Rangers ran out 4-2 winners to re-establish a three-point lead at the top of the Championship. It was a first defeat for Hibs since losing at the same venue in August.
In between times, they built a 17-match unbeaten run featuring only two draws.
‘We have been really positive since Monday,’ insisted McGinn, ahead of today’s visit from Raith Rovers.
‘The manager made sure straight after the game that we didn’t let the result affect us that much.
‘If you put it into perspective, it was one defeat in 18 and we have to look at the positives and not dwell on the result too much.
‘Can we bounce back again? We are massively confident we can do that. We have immense character in the dressing room and we win as a team and lose as a team.
‘We did make mistakes at Ibrox but they weren’t individual mistakes, they were team ones. That’s the way we see it and that’s the way the manager drills it into us.
‘We are all together and we know if we are together, then we can have runs like the one we have just come off. There will be twists and turns along the way and a lot of bumps and bruises but that was only a wee bump.’ McGinn rejects the idea that games against Rangers will decide the destination of the title. Indeed, with Falkirk now level on points with Hibs — albeit having played a game more — the 21-year-old very much views this as a three-horse race. ‘Definitely,’ he added. ‘They (Falkirk) feel as if they haven’t been getting the respect they deserve. But they are there — and they are there on merit — so they cannot be ignored.’