Aston Villa winger Jadon Sancho has plenty of praise for his captain John McGinn
Jadon Sancho of Aston Villa(Image: Getty Images)
Jadon Sancho singled out John McGinn as a key player in helping him rediscover his confidence at Aston Villa this season.
Signed on loan from Manchester United on deadline day last September, Sancho initially struggled to make an impression under Unai Emery, but has since shown more encouraging signs.
He scored the only goal in Villa’s win at Fenerbahce in January, following an impressive performance off the bench against his former club Chelsea the previous month, and has since earned more regular game time leading up to the March international break.
After suffering a shoulder injury in Villa’s friendly against Elche last week, he is expected to miss around three weeks of action, though he spoke a couple of weeks ago about his campaign at the club so far.
“It’s my team-mates and my manager that have been giving me that confidence and belief,” he told TNT.
“My team-mates have been very good to me. I feel like I can do more because I know myself. But apart from that, I’m just happy that the team is doing well, and we’re in a good position.
“Obviously when you have a captain like John McGinn, you already know the vibes. John has been great with me since day one, so big shout out to John for that.
“He’s such a great guy, he’s a nice guy on and off the pitch. When he’s on the pitch, he’s working very hard and off the pitch, he’s just a normal regular guy.
“Some people wouldn’t look at him as a captain, but when he’s on the pitch, you can tell why he’s the captain of Aston Villa and how he helps the team a lot.”
Asked about Emery, Sancho said: “I think he’s very demanding of all of his players. He gives you a job to do, and you also work with his team around him to help your game and improve the team.
“As players, we just take that on board, we take that into games and what we can achieve together as a team when we perfect that plan is just perfect.”
“I feel that stats are very important, especially for attacking players,” he said. “It does help your confidence, but it’s also not just about stats, it’s about the feeling in how you play.
“You just have to know your playing style and if you contribute to your team in terms of working defensively, these are the little things that matter.”
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