John McGinn ‘trying too hard’ says Steven Gerrard, as former Rangers boss opens up on Aston Villa captain’s struggles

ASTON VILLA boss Steven Gerrard reckons John McGinn is trying too hard as his side’s newly-appointed skipper bids to correct their early-season woes.

The Villains face Southampton tonight with just four points on the board – and a win would ease the pressure on the Villa boss as he looks to recover from a shaky start to the season.

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McGinn has struggled early on in the season as Villa sit near the bottom of the pileCredit: Alamy

McGinn was given the club captaincy after Gerrard opted to strip English defender Tyrone Mings of the title during the summer and the Scotland midfielder’s form has dipped since.

But Gerrard has backed his skipper to hit the peak of his performance sooner rather than later after trying too hard to make an impact.

He told BirminghamLive: “He hasn’t changed and I haven’t expected him to change.

“I think he’s maybe been trying too hard, if you like, which we thought would happen.

“He’s had the captaincy individually on a few occasions and we felt his performances were that he was trying too desperately.

“That’s not a fault, that’s John McGinn. I think that’s a real positive about him but it’ll take time.”

Gerrard revealed that he has held talks with McGinn as he aims to try and adjust to being a Premier League captain.

He remained adamant that he is happy with how his captain has performed at certain points but admits that there is always room for improvement.

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He continued: “He’ll come and get back to his real strong best. I think out of possession he’s been outstanding for us but he’s just trying a little bit too hard.

“We’ve spoken to him about it and I have no doubts that he’ll be fine.

“He’s been fine in certain games and in certain moments this season.”

Elsewhere, Scotland fans have been given a major lift after finding out that the national team’s fixture against Ukraine will be free to view on TV.

That’s because Premier Sports, who took over the rights to our Nations League matches from Sky Sports, guaranteed that THREE Scotland matches would also be shown free-to-air over the next two years.

So the match will be shown on Premier Sports 1 AND ITV4.

Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page