Trezeguet is struggling with match fitness ahead of Aston Villa’s meeting with Newcastle United, Kortney Hause has already been ruled out for Saturday’s clash and now John McGinn will be absent against the Magpies.
The 26-year-old was booked for delaying the restart by kicking the ball away when Manchester City had a dead-ball situation and will now be suspended for one game as it is the fifth yellow card he has been shown before Gameweek 22.
McGinn picked up three yellow cards in his first four Premier League appearances of the season – the autumn wins over Sheffield United, Fulham and Leicester City. His fourth came in the 1-0 win over Wolves more than a month ago, and McGinn only needed to last two more games without reprimand to avoid the automatic one-match ban if booked again.
Smith wasn’t happy over the manner of the booking, telling Birmingham Live: “Unfortunately John McGinn’s got a pathetic yellow card which means he misses the Newcastle game now. I don’t understand that decision.
“If he books Douglas Luiz for the tackle, not a problem, but delaying the restart – it was about half a second after the foul and we were making two subs. Again it looked like he couldn’t wait to get that out.”
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Smith is angry with the decision because Villa were planning to bring on two players at the time that McGinn was accused of delaying the restart, so no game-time had been lost from his actions.
Nevertheless, Villa will have to plan for the Newcastle game without one of their most important players – only Jack Grealish has contributed more league assists for the team this season.
Marvelous Nakamba is a ball-winning midfielder who should get the nod as he has been providing backup from the bench, but he has not played since mid-December so he may be rusty. If he is called upon, hopefully he can adequately fill the void left by McGinn’s harsh suspension.
