JOHN MCGINN has hailed the Tartan Army for dragging Scotland over the line against the Republic of Ireland on Saturday night.
Steve Clarke’s side came from behind to pick up an important three points in their bid for promotion out of Group B in the Nations League.
A Jack Hendry goal and Ryan Christie penalty ensured Scotland cancelled out an early John Egan strike.
It was a momentous night for McGinn too as he landed his 50th international cap for his country.
“It was a feisty performance from us. I’m disappointed in the first half. It was a tough, physical game. The same as it always is against Ireland,” he explained.
“But we coped a lot better on Saturday night than we did at the Aviva. Then the second half was a performance that we’re been used to the past couple of seasons under the gaffer.
“It was physical but in the end we had the quality to win the game and I think we went out deserved winners.
“The fans dragged us over the line. There was obviously a bit of tiredness. It had been a quick turnover from Wednesday night but they were right behind us and they drove us on.
“And after we got Jack’s goal they certainly drove us to victory. I’m sure in Poland they will be there in their thousands. I’m sure they’d have gone away after Saturday night to have some pints and enjoyed the result.”
On reaching his cap milestone, McGinn continued: “It means the world to me.
“I had my family there on Saturday night, loads of them. You’d probably have seen them dotted about the stadium, people who have been on this journey with me.
“My mum, my dad, my sister, my brothers, my partner and all my family - they’ve all been there for the ups and downs and there’s been plenty of ups and downs.
“But it certainly makes the downs easier when you have nights like Saturday night. It’s an evening I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”
Aston Villa midfielder McGinn now hopes he and his teammates can secure promotion to Group A of the Nations League with a result against Ukraine on Tuesday.
Ahead of the Krakow contest, he said: “A draw would have been enough on Saturday night but we wanted to win, keep the confidence up and keep this wee mini streak going.
“I know it’s only two wins but that’s what we’ve managed to do in the past, get a run together. We managed to get second place in that group.
“I think we’re building something. We had a blip in the summer which felt a wee bit like a kidney punch but we’re back on the horse and we’re going again.
“It doesn’t make up for the art of not making the World Cup but we had to avenge the performance here against Ukraine. We did that.
“We had to avenge the performance in Dublin and we managed to do that as well.
“But we know how important Tuesday is. We’re not going to get carried away. We’re now looking forward to a big test, which is essentially a cup final.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel