McGinn has spoken about how he had words with manager Unai Emery about Europe’s top club competition.
The Scotsman was in a downward spell at that time, having lost his place in the team.
McGinn told reporters, as Villa prepare to take on Young Boys in the Champions League: “At the time, I had just lost my place in the team. The manager told me that he was advised that he would have to change the captain and move me on.
He said, ‘I’ve been told this about you but I’ll make my own judgement. If my own judgement is that I don’t see you being involved here then I’ll make it clear and I’ll let you know.’
“He told me that my last 10 games hadn’t been good. But he said he’d watched the 10 before that and they were. He asked, ‘Can you tell me why that is?‘
“I was thinking, ‘Why has he watched 20 games of mine?’ I thought my time was up. A few games later, we played Brentford and won convincingly. I remember thinking, ‘I’m not going to be part of this.’ I thought I was finished. You start hearing from other clubs you might be available and you think, ‘What? Am I?’
“But he saw something I didn’t see myself. From there, he worked with me tirelessly. I never looked back. I’ll be grateful for him ignoring that external noise and internal noise to make his own judgment. It was a tough moment for me, personally. Looking back now, the week before Villa play in the Champions League, I think I’ve proved him right and others wrong. But those others aren’t at the club anymore, so that’s good.”