John McGinn is confident of soon reaching full match sharpness after starting his third game in eight days as Aston Villa drew 1-1 with Newcastle United on Wednesday.
Prior to the Premier League restart, the midfielder had been out of action since suffering an ankle injury against Southampton back in December.
McGinn has now played 240 minutes of football since the resumption and he feels he is getting closer to his optimum level of match fitness.
Speaking to VillaTV at St James’ Park, he said: “It’s been difficult for me.
“It’s been a long time out and I’ve never really suffered a serious injury before, so it’s been tough to adapt.
“I’m finding my feet, normally you get reserve games but because of the situation that we’re in, I couldn’t get those games.
“I’m getting my fitness, my sharpness isn’t quite there yet but hopefully it will come soon.”
Dean Smith’s side fought back after Dwight Gayle’s opener for Newcastle, with Ahmed Elmohamady netting the equaliser with seven minutes to play.
While McGinn was satisfied with the first-half performance in the north east, he highlighted two key areas for Villa to improve as they prepare to face Wolves at Villa Park on Saturday.
“It's so important that we cut out losing silly goals and, at the other end, we can't wait until the other team score to show a bit of belief and cause problems,” he explained.
“We played a lot more like ourselves in the first half, without creating too many clear-cut chances.
“There are only seven games left now, so it’s important that we create chances and take them when they come.
“We’re going to need that desire and will-to-win to get goals at this level and hopefully, starting on Saturday, we can get some winning momentum.”
You can watch John's full interview now on VillaTV, click here.
