Dean Smith claims Aston Villa midfielder John McGinn was like two players against Rotherham

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Dean Smith has claimed that Aston Villa midfielder John McGinn put such a shift in on Wednesday night that he thought he was seeing double.

The Midlands giants produced a stunning comeback to secure a 2-1 victory away at Rotherham United, which means they have now won a remarkable seven league games on the spin.

Tammy Abraham missed an early penalty for the visitors and Rotherham took the lead when Will Vaulks converted from the spot, which also meant that Tyrone Mings was sent off in the first-half.

But Villa responded in superb fashion in the second period, as Jonathan Kodjia and Jack Grealish both got on the scoresheet to secure three more points.

There players had to put all their efforts into the second-half with a man less and central midfielder McGinn was once again covering every blade of grass.

The 24-year-old has been a Rolls-Royce midfielder since he arrived in the summer and is a key player in the team.

Manager Smith praised the work-rate of his entire team and feels that McGinn looked like two players at times.

“I thought we put a performance in that second-half with a man less that was incredible. Players worked really, really hard for each other. I thought there was two John McGinns on the pitch at one stage,” Smith said, as quoted by the club’s official Twitter account.

TBR’s View:

McGinn has been an inspired addition at Villa Park this campaign and the work he gets through in the centre of the park is immense.

The left-footed Scotsman has gone from strength to strength since he joined and has the potential to have a huge future with the club, while he definitely looks technically strong enough for the Premier League.

He’s scored six goals and supplied 10 assists in 37 games to highlight the attacking edge he has to his game.

But on top of that he’s defensively switched on with his work in front of the back four and he’s never afraid to put in a crunching tackle.

Villa needed his incredible desire to see out the match against Rotherham and he’s surely been one of the signings of the season in the Championship.