Boost for Scotland as John McGinn closes in on Aston Villa comeback

John McGinn has stepped up his recovery from a fractured ankle, handing Scotland a timely boost ahead of the Euro 2020 play-off semi-final against Israel.

Scotland midfielder John McGinn could make his comeback from injury in Aston Villa's home game against Chelsea on Saturday 14 March. Picture: Bill Murray/SNS

The influential Aston Villa midfielder has been out since December after suffering the injury against Southampton but could make his comeback against Chelsea next Saturday.

Scotland meet Israel 12 days later on Thursday 26 March at Hampden.

“He’s getting to where we want him to be and had a CT Scan today [Friday] to make sure there’s a full union of the fracture,” said Villa boss Dean Smith.

“He trained with us, we’ve not had him training in contact sessions yet, he’s been involved in possession and shape work.

“He feels really good which is the important thing. He’ll be pushing me for Chelsea, that’s for sure.

“Once he gets on that training ground he’ll move quickly and he’s certainly progressing quickly now.

“Obviously, there will be a lot of pressure put on him because of the pressure on him before his injury, but we have to make sure he’s right when he actually comes back.”