By Graham Hill
THE PFA Championship team of the season for 2019 raised one major question at Villa Park – where was John McGinn?
The final line up contained Jack Grealish and 25-goal Tammy Abraham.
Both players deserved their places. But McGinn must be feeling hard done by here.
Grealish, despite an inspirational last few weeks that has seen him lead Villa into the play-offs, missed three months of the season through injury.
But McGinn was being hailed as the bargain buy of the campaign early on after hitting the ground running when he made a £2.7million move from Hibs to Villa Park.
His spectacular goal against Sheffield Wednesday was one of the goals of the season.
But the Scot appears to have paid the price for Villa’s winter slump in form which saw Dean Smith’s side drift into mid-table.
Only in recent weeks has McGinn found his form again.
And his best response to that would be to produce a promotion winning display in the Championship play offs.
Villa boss Dean Smith says Grealish is the best player in the Championship.
But even he noted that his captain was out injured for a large chunk of the season with a shin injury.
Smith said: “He missed 14 games, that just shows what his peers think of him.
“It’s one of the greatest things for a player to achieve is when your peers have voted for you.
“But it’s a great filip for both Jack and Tammy to be named in the team of the year.”
Villa Roar 