Some Aston Villa fans react as pundit claims McGinn is more important than Grealish

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Some Aston Villa fans have been reacting on social media after Troy Deeney told Sky Sports that John McGinn is more important to Dean Smith’s side than Jack Grealish.

The Villans have been without Grealish for their last 12 Premier League fixtures after their captain sustained a shin injury in February (Independent), in which the Birmingham-based outfit have won just three times and drawn three.

Villa have sorely missed having Grealish available over those games, having saw the 25-year-old establish himself as his side’s lead playmaker with 10 assists and offer six goals in 22 top-flight encounters.

Smith confirmed on Friday that Grealish would be returning to group training sessions over the weekend as he ramps up his rehabilitation, having been working individually in recent weeks, but was not considered fit in time to face Manchester United on Sunday.

McGinn was able to start at home to the Red Devils but could not see that Villa avoided defeat after goals from Bruno Fernandes, Mason Greenwood and Edison Cavani overturned Bertrand Traore’s first-half opener.

Yet Deeney believes McGinn, who has only missed one Premier League encounter all season when the 32-cap Scotland international was suspended for January’s win over Newcastle United, has been more important to Aston Villa’s overall efforts than Grealish.

“I think McGinn is the engine room, I think he’s more important [to Villa] than Jack,” the Watford striker told Sky Sports during the build-up to the Manchester United match.

“When he plays really well, the whole team plays really well. When Jack plays really well, there’s still others who just give him the ball and go: ‘go on, you try and get us out of this sticky patch’.”

Here’s how these Aston Villa fans reacted to Deeney’s comments…