Newly crowned Aston Villa captain John McGinn has named Jack Grealish and Tyrone Mings as two of the biggest influences in helping him earn the armband at Villa Park after being unveiled as captain over the summer months.
New boss Steven Gerrard inherited a squad that saw Mings as the group’s skipper under Dean Smith, and that continued until the end of last season as they scraped to a 14th-placed finish under the Liverpool hero.
But radical changes were made at the end of July with McGinn instead becoming the man with the armband and Emiliano Martinez as vice-captain, leaving Mings in the dark.
McGinn, however, had taken the role in his stride and has detailed Steven Gerrard’s advice, with the manager telling him to continue being himself.
But McGinn also described the help Grealish and Mings gave him in the years building up to earning the armband.
“I feel settled here and I feel fortunate. When I joined, I sat next to an amazing captain in James Chester who I learned a lot from. He wasn’t a shouter, he didn’t need to shout because he was so well respected,” McGinn told talkSPORT.
“He led by example in the way he just went about on a daily basis, the way he treated people. So I learned a lot from that. I learned a lot from Jack [Grealish] just playing his own game and taking games by the scruff of the neck and then Tyrone [Mings] with his leadership skills. The three of them have given me so much advice. I‘ve spoken to all three.
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“It’s important to be myself and take a little bit out of everyone. But I’m not going to start changing, the manager did mention that.
“He said ‘There’s a reason why I’ve given you the responsibility and that’s to be yourself, don’t change, don’t think you have to start doing motivational speeches’, which isn’t me anyway.”