After being one of the stars of Aston Villa's return to the Premier League last season, things haven't quite gone to plan for John McGinn this time around.The Scotland international has bagged just one goal in six games this season, and whilst he has picked up an impressive four assists to go along with that, he's had a particularly rough few weeks on the pitch.He was part of a Villa midfield that got completely overrun by Leeds in a 3-0 drubbing, before on Sunday, was equally anonymous in a 4-3 defeat to Southampton.With the likes of Conor Hourihane and Marvelous Nakamba waiting patiently on the sidelines, McGinn is surely the man most under pressure of losing his place in the Villa midfield, with Douglas Luiz having now established himself as one of the team's holding players.Speaking after the game, Villa fan and podcast Jonny Gould, slammed McGinn for his performance, saying that he was "found wanting".

After an impressive few weeks saw Dean Smith's side start the new Premier League campaign in spectacular fashion with four wins from win, the wheels appear appear to have fallen off, thanks to back-to-back defeats.

If Smith is to ensure that this blip doesn't extend itself into a full-blown slide, then he has to make a ruthless call on a player who's been the most underwhelming over these past couple of weeks.

A break from the side, and a chance to just take stock and sit on the side-lines may do McGinn the world of good, and see him get back to his best form sooner rather than later.

Continuing to throw him in there for the sake of continuity or hoping he catches fire by himself, almost seems like negligence from the manager. Now is the perfect time for Smith to make a bold and ruthless call.