Aston Villa manager Dean Smith has acknowledged that John McGinn has been the Villains prime goalscoring threat during the opening phase of the Premier League campaign. The west Midlands outfit are yet to open their points tally on their top-flight return, but they have been positives in terms of the performance on the field.
Villa managed to hold onto a 1-0 lead until the hour mark against Tottenham Hotspur in the season opener but they were outdone by the north London giants, who sealed a 3-1 triumph in the end. Against Bournemouth, the west Midlands outfit had a forgettable 15-minute period where they were two goals down at the start and they could redeem themselves thereafter with just one consolation strike.
Speaking in a press conference, Smith has admitted that McGinn has been the most likely candidate to find the net for the newly-promoted outfit. However, he added that there have been moments of creativity from other members of the squad and the fortunes will change once the club are able to convert the chances into goals.
He said: "I think our most likely goal-scorer at the moment has looked like it's going to be John McGinn. He's made some really deep runs into the opposition half. Saying that, Jack Grealish had a really good chance last week, Wesley teed up Trezeguet for a good chance. Neil Taylor even got in the opposition box last week and had two chances. So we're creating chances, we just need to start taking them. I'm sure [the goals] will come."
McGinn scored the club’s opening goal against Spurs following the top-flight comeback and he was a dangerous prospect against the Cherries with a couple of scoring attempts. The Scotland international has already shown that he has the quality to succeed in the Premier League but needs some assistance from his teammates to get the club’s season going.