Wembley was no problem ... I was more nervous watching St Mirren

SCORING the £170million winning goal in football’s richest game to clinch Aston Villa’s promotion to the English Premier League was undoubtedly the finest day of John McGinn’s career so far.

As for the most nervous moment the Scotland international endured over the past weekend?

That did not come at Wembley Stadium, where the 24-year-old former St Mirren and Hibernian midfielder put in a man-of-the- match performance in front of a sell-out 85,826 crowd to help his side beat Derby County in the Championship play-off final.

In fact, that particular piece of high tension came 24 hours earlier while watching brothers Paul and Stephen keep St Mirren in the Scottish Premiership via the play-offs on penalty kicks at the expense of Dundee United.

With Saints safe and Villa Premier League-bound, the three brothers will this evening all jet off for Stephen’s stag do at an undisclosed venue.

Then, on Friday night, both John and Paul will be joint best men at Stephen’s wedding as the emotional McGinn family round off the best week of their lives.

‘It’s really surreal scoring the winning goal in the play-off final,’ grinned McGinn.

‘But I was probably more nervous watching the St Mirren v Dundee United play-off final on Sunday than I was playing at Wembley today. The St Mirren game on Sunday was brain damage but they got the job done in the end and deservedly so.

‘It’s been a tough season for St Mirren but Paul and Stephen have both been different class.

‘I went straight up to see them after the final whistle at Wembley today so we could all celebrate.

‘My mum Mary is an emotional wreck. It could have gone both ways for our family this weekend, but it’s all turned out all right and I’m delighted.

‘I’m not telling you where we are going for the stag do but this is going to be the best week of our lives.

‘We’ve all won our play-off final and I’m going to be so proud watching Stephen get married.

‘All focus turns to my speech now. I’m hopefully going to leave it to Paul because he’s got some words prepared already. Hopefully, I can relax and just say one or two words at the wedding.’

After scaling the summit of English football, McGinn climbed the 107 steps at Wembley to get his winners’ medal.

Despite the magnitude of his own feat, he modestly insisted his brothers’ achievements were greater than his own £170m triumph since St Mirren avoiding relegation means jobs are not lost at the Paisley club.

In such a context, he insists the much-criticised scenes of celebration by Saints players on Sunday were justified.

‘I’ve seen a lot of people accusing St Mirren of going over the top in their celebrations yesterday — but it was justified,’ he said.

‘When you are expected to be relegated for so long, it was just a release. To go so many games unbeaten towards the end of the league season, they deserve to celebrate their achievement.

‘What people forget is that people’s livelihoods were at stake. People would lose their jobs if Saints went down. There was a lot at stake and that makes it probably a more important win than ours today. But, as a family, we are just delighted.’

Villa took the lead towards the end of the first half when Ahmed Elmohamady’s cross to the back post was diverted in from close range by Anwar El Ghazi.

After the break, El Ghazi turned provider for McGinn when his deflected ball into the box looped up high in the air.

Derby goalkeeper Kelle Roos should have got there first, but hesitated and McGinn leapt high to head into the empty net before racing and diving full length in front of his adoring Villa fans.

Former Rangers striker Martyn Waghorn got a goal back for Derby when he deflected Jack Marriott’s effort into the net but it was to be McGinn’s day. It will be hard to top yesterday’s promotion-clinching goal that cemented his place as the new darling of the Holte End — with the Villa half of Wembley reverberating to chants of ‘Super John McGinn’.

That was the same song sung by Hibs fans in praise of their Scottish Cup-winning midfielder. His popularity should soar in Leith even further, given Easter Road chief executive Leeann Dempster insisted on a clause in his contract meaning the Edinburgh side bank a ‘sizeable sum’ now Villa and McGinn are in the English top flight.

Afterwards, McGinn revealed he was inspired to success at Wembley by not making the bench for Scotland’s 3-0 World Cup qualifier defeat under Gordon Strachan in November 2016.

He said: ‘I was gutted that night. Scotland played well against England but sitting in the stand was still gutting. But these things drive you on. I wanted to come back and play at Wembley.

‘Scoring the winner at Wembley and being a big part of it was a dream come true. I am just going to let it sink in tonight and enjoy it.’

This was a day that had been billed as Frank Lampard v John Terry. It was a glittering showpiece occasion with Prince William looking down from his private box.

McGinn was the star of the show but he had his eye on rubbing shoulders with one celebrity fan after concluding his press duties.

‘Has Prince William come up to congratulate me yet? I’ve not spoken to him but I saw him up in the crowd sitting alongside John Carew,’ added McGinn. ‘If he says hello tonight he can maybe give me a tap...’

Whether they met or not, as Wembley Way reverberated to chants of his name, it was clear the Premier League-bound Scot has joined the Prince in the ranks of Villa royalty.