Villa are in Belgium tonight for the first-leg of their Champions League round 16 tie with Club Brugge.
In the last nine away matches, Villa have suffered seven defeats.
"We are aware of that," said McGinn.
"It's not something we ignore. We know it's very difficult to play away, no matter where you go.
"We have been far too unstable, too easy to play against, too easy to score against. So we are aware of it, but fortunately we now have the opportunity to change it.
"We have a chance to get harder to beat. We have to win more duels. We have to be tougher and stronger in tackles, and that's definitely something we need to do.
"We must start by keeping the cage clean and trying to get a counter-goal, this is something we were very strong for last season, both nationally and in Europe
"We were very good at the restructuring, hard to break down, and we know we have to go back to that level."