John McGinn reveals 'tricky' situation Scotland players faced had Georgia match been put back 24 hours

There was a willingness of John McGinn to put a new spin on pitching in when it came to the rain-submerged Hampden surface for Tuesday night’s momentous 2-0 Euro 2024 qualifying victory over Georgia.

The Scotland midfielder has never been afraid to roll up his sleeves and put his back into the cause for his country. So it was as groundstaff and ballboys feverishly worked away with their squeegee brooms to brush away the water covering on a pitch whose drainage has been left to question. Efforts that allowed the downpour-delayed encounter, eventually, to be played to a finish…three-and-a-half hours after it had started, only to be halted following Callum McGregor’s sixth-minute opener. As it was then apparent players’ safety and the spectacle was being comprised beyond belief. A decision that gave way to a bonkers sequence of pushed-back timeframes for restarting.

“The ground staff and everyone involved did an amazing job clearing the pitch,” he said. “It hadn’t rained for about two weeks and I don’t think anyone was expecting the downpour. I don’t know if it should have been able to handle that amount of rain, I’m not an expert. But they all did an incredible job. I was wanting to give them a hand, but we weren’t allowed. It might have helped because it was painful to watch but I was told it might tire me out. Fair play to them. It was strange. The whole period was strange, it was the most surreal night of my life.

“The message [when we returned] was to concentrate but it wasn’t easy. It was difficult. If I am honest, I was pretty hungry by the end because we hadn’t had anything to eat since 4.30pm. It was nothing you’d ever prepared for but I thought we dealt with it as best we could. It was mental, an absolutely mental night. It all feels a little bit subdued if I am honest. We’ve had a massive, massive win, but the supporters needed to get their buses and trains home. Fair play to every single one of them, it was them I felt for. It was fine for us, we were getting shelter and everything we needed.”

McGinn accepts the game should not have started at its scheduled 7.45pm time with the torrential, sheet rain then turning the pitch into a giant puddle. But he believes “common sense” prevailed after signals that “weren’t clear” on various aborted resumptions for it to be concluded on the night. The alternative of playing to a finish the next day at his old stomping ground of St MIrren particularly problematic for him and some his international team-mates.

“It’s just an overriding feeling of relief because once the game does start you want to see it through,” he said. “It would have been tricky had we been asked to go again behind closed doors at St Mirren. We had Robbo’s [Andy Robertson’s] charity golf day on Wednesday and at one point [we wondered] if it would be called off [though we were never told that, only about the contingency]. I think there was a real sense that the game wouldn’t start. The subs were out giving us bad news, that the ball wasn’t bouncing. The crowd here are a big plus for us so to not have them the following day would have been strange.”