Young guns did so well, says McGinn

Nov 17 2009 by Jeff Holmes, Paisley Daily Express

SAINTS starlet Stephen McGinn has praised his Scotland under-21 team- mates for the way in which they disposed of Azerbaijan at the weekend – even though he was gutted to miss the trip.

The midfielder was forced to withdraw from the under-21 squad after aggravating a back and groin injury in the 2-1 defeat at Ibrox earlier this month.

He turned up at the Scottish HQ last Monday morning but was ruled out of the match in Baku, which the away team won 4-0 to boost their hopes of qualification.

McGinn said: “I had been playing with the injury for a couple of weeks but it flared up at Ibrox and I had to go off.

“Unfortunately, I missed the match in Baku, which was disappointing, because you want to play as often as you can for your country.

“Missing out on a trip to a country you would never normally visit was another blow but the most important thing is that we’re in good shape in the group.

“We play Azerbaijan at home in March and then face the big two – Austria and Belarus.

“So far, things seem to be going according to plan.”