John McGinn would have asked Steve Clarke to stay as Scotland midfielder discusses 'painful' World Cup period

Scotland midfielder John McGinn has opened up on the difficult period between the national team’s 3-0 defeat by Brazil and their official elimination from the World Cup finals.

Steve Clarke’s side finished third in Group C which meant they could reach the knockout stages if their record in group was better than four other third placed nations. However, results did not got the required way in the following days and the team were soon booking their flights out of America.

McGinn, who is now back with club side Aston Villa with the new English Premier League season having kicked off last weekend, described it as a ‘painful’ time for the players. He was speaking as the most recent guest on the Stick to Football show from The Overlap with ex pros Jamie Carragher, Gary Neville, Ian Wright and Jill Scott.

John McGinn says waiting for World Cup elimination to be confirmed was ‘painful’ and ‘brutal’

He said: "It was painful, really painful, because you know you're going out every day, every result. We had to train, which was brutal, because normally in every other tournament, the way they've changed the rules, three points would have probably been enough.

“So you're waiting and then all the results start going against you and you start supporting the teams that can give you a higher percentage, because it was impossible for us to qualify. Then in the morning when we were leaving, the drug testers turned up. So you're going, oh come on, have a bit of sympathy.

“That was just rubbing salt in the wounds, you just wanted to go home. Some of the players went back to Scotland, but most stayed away."

‘People pleaser’ John McGinn says he would have tried to convince Steve Clarke to stay on as Scotland manager

Once their elimination had been officially confirmed, the team was hit with another blow when head coach Steve Clarke announced he would be stepping down from the role. McGinn, an ever-present in the squad under the 62-year-old, revealed he would have tried to convince Clarke to stay had he been in captain Andy Robertson’s position.

“It was horrible, said McGinn, “but I think he had a couple of discussions with Robbo. The two of them... Robbo's frank with him back as well. He's good like that. If he asked me, I'd have said stay.

“I'm a people pleaser, so I'd have been like, no, no, it's fine, we'll sort it out next time. Robbo would have probably said, we need to make some changes. He wouldn't have been anything other than honest, and the gaffer would have been honest with him.

“So then it got to the Friday I think it was when we eventually got put out. That's when he said, ‘I've got a lot of belief in the group, but they've got so much more to offer and I'll watch as a fan’.

“It was actually quite emotional when he said it. We got into a room and Craig Gordon said he's retired and then the gaffer said it's time for a change. I think he's probably felt, right, how do I take this group forward? And he eventually said you need a fresh voice and a fresh change.

“So a lot of respect to him for that, but what he's given us as a country and a group has been special. Because we were so long away from tournaments and it's become the norm. Now, granted, being rubbish at the tournaments has become slightly the norm, but we can only try and change that next."

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