With Dean Smith's Aston Villa side heading into Saturday's Premier League clash in a decent run of form, having picked up six points over their last four fixtures against challenging opposition, the 50-year-old would have been confident of another positive result in the West Midlands derby against Wolverhampton Wanderers.

However, after taking a 2-0 lead in the second half of the fixture, Villa subsequently collapsed in the final ten minutes, as three late goals saw Wolves leave Villa Park with a highly unlikely three points.

Although, despite the result, a number of Smith's side actually turned in rather impressive displays in the match, none more so than John McGinn - whose performance did not deserve to come for the losing side in the clash.

Four key passes

Indeed, over his 90 minutes on the pitch, the central midfielder was incredibly influential for his team, ending the game with both a goal and an assist to his name.

Furthermore, the Scotland international also made four key passes, created one big chance for his teammates, attempted seven crosses, six long balls and completed three dribbles.

The £27m-rated man also won eight of his 13 duels, made one interception, four tackles and took two shots at the Wolves goal, as well as winning one free-kick for his side.

These returns saw the 26-year-old who Gregg Evans dubbed a "brilliant" player earn a highly impressive SofaScore match rating of 8.9, with no player from either side receiving a better score than McGinn on the day.

As such, despite the result, Smith will undoubtedly be hugely encouraged by the Scot's performance against Wolves, who, unfortunately, was let down by his teammates on Saturday.

However, should the £25k-per-week midfielder be able to maintain this level of performance going forwards, more often than not, he will help to secure Villa a great many victories this season.

In other news: "Outstanding" Aston Villa gem who won just one duel failed Smith in derby collapse