John McGinn: Aston Villa in the hunt to 'lift a trophy'

Unai Emery's side host AZ Alkmaar on Thursday looking to take a giant leap to the knockout stages of the Europa Conference League and chase down their first major silverware since 1996.

They demolished Alkmaar 4-1 in Holland two weeks ago and are second, behind Legia Warsaw on their head-to-head record, in Group E.

Villa have not lifted a major trophy since their League Cup win 27 years ago with their last main final in the FA Cup in 2015.

McGinn said: "We have three opportunities (Premier League, FA Cup and Conference League) to break that spell of Aston Villa teams not having any silverware.

"It's one we're aspiring to be part of. Hopefully at the end of the season we can be proud of something we've done and write our names in the history books.

"Each player has their own ambitions and dreams. There's still a lot of work to do but the ambition and goal is to lift a trophy at the end of the season.

"We are embracing the competition. We know we are one of the biggest teams in the competition but that doesn't mean we can just turn up.

"The Legia game (a 3-2 defeat) was a huge learning curve, the minute we are off it, teams will punish us. It has given us a platform to respect each team.

"Zrinjski came (a late 1-0 Villa win) and it was a huge effort from them and then Alkmaar - the performance was professional.

"The difficulty of the competition hasn't been a surprise for me. I know how hard it is to get into these competitions."

Sunday's 2-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest hit Villa's momentum after five wins from their last six games.

Matty Cash came off with a shoulder problem but will be ready and has trained with the squad.

Emi Buendia and Tyrone Mings (both knee) are sidelined with Jacob Ramsey (foot) and Jhon Duran (toe) also out for Emery.

The manager said: "We always have to improve. We can't worry about why we lost but every match is very difficult and we have to respect the Conference League and Premier League, of course.

"I'm not clear of the starting XI because I want to manage our style and structure while trying to use different players with the combination."

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