HOW JOHN McGINN GOT HIS MOJO BACK: Scotland talisman admits he's firing again after putting football on the backburner last summer

No matter how much they attempt to put mind over matter, there comes a point when any footballer must reconcile themselves with their physical limitations.

John McGinn arrived at that stage towards the end of last season. Long before he traipsed off after 59 minutes in Liechtenstein in June, he knew it was time to take stock.

That match was his 57th of the season for club and country. The gruelling sequence had come off the back of a 66-game campaign which ended at the Euros in Germany.

Little wonder he was struggling to maintain the sky-high performance levels which had seen him become Aston Villa captain and edge towards 80 Scotland caps.

McGinn didn’t need anyone to tell him that something had to give. For the first time he can recall in his career, he put the football away.

‘I’d two and a half weeks pretty much doing nothing,’ he revealed.

‘I went to do my own individual training camp in America, tried to get myself in a wee bit better shape to get myself fresh and ready to go for the new season.

‘I had a good pre-season. I feel in a good place.

‘I feel as if I offered more the first two games than I have in a while for Scotland. Hopefully, it carries on.’

On the evidence of those jousts with Denmark and Belarus, the midfielder’s self-diagnosis and remedy of complete rest were right on the money.

Ahead of turning 31 later this month, McGinn looks to have rediscovered his mojo. There’s evidently a lot to be said for the merits of taking to a sun lounger.

‘I’m obviously not getting any younger, so you try and let the body refresh,’ he added.

‘Obviously, the last couple of years I’ve been a bit more full-on, but this year we got a good rest.

‘I think I’ve played a lot of games over the past few seasons, just continuously, and you maybe lose a bit of sharpness, just kind of plodding on.

‘And, for me to be at my best, I need to be sharp and helping the team. I feel as if I’m back to that.

‘The manager at Villa’s good at giving us enough time off. It was a really good pre-season.

‘I think it was just about getting the spark back a wee bit. I feel as fit as I’ve ever been and hopefully can carry on.’

This is all manna from heaven for Steve Clarke. McGinn has been the beating heart of the side which reached back-to-back European Championships under the national team manager.

When the midfielder has turned it on in a Dark Blue jersey, he’s elevated the performances of those around him.

In this truncated World Cup qualifying campaign, a reinvigorated McGinn might well make all the difference.

Clarke will take further encouragement from the fact that all his players are eyeing the visiting of Greece with a score to settle.

While Ivan Jovanovic’s young side impressed when they won 3-0 at Hampden in the Nations League play-off in March, Scotland were wretched that night.

There’s even more at stake here than the three points which would take Clarke’s side closer to next summer’s finals. There’s a whiff of revenge in the air.

Asked if he felt that was the real Scotland we witnessed in March, McGinn said: ‘No, but it’s good. It’s probably given us a better look at them.

‘If we’d beaten them twice, you’d probably think we’re going in there as favourites, but we need to respect them.

‘It highlighted that they have got really good players. They’re a little bit inconsistent, I would say, but when they came to Hampden last time out, they were much, much better than us.

‘So, for us to get a World Cup we’re going to have to amend that and avenge it. If we play like we have in the last two games, we’ll give ourselves the best chance.’

It does feel like Scotland are now in a better place than that horror show earlier this year.

A return to form for the talismanic McGinn is one reason. Being ‘horrible’ to play against again - as Clarke recently put it - is another.

Both in Denmark and against Belarus in Zalaegerszeg, the team defended admirably from the front and gave up few chances. Two clean sheets were the cornerstones for the four points which have made for a promising start.

‘I think we’ve had success in the past by, first and foremost, being tough to beat, keeping clean sheets, being strong defensively,’ said McGinn.

‘We got away from what we’re good at. We’ve all been speaking about it. The Belarus game was professional.

‘Maybe if we’d been a little bit critical, we could have probably stepped our foot on the gas a wee bit in the last ten minutes to try and get a couple more goals.

‘But if you do that, you concede one and it starts getting nervous. So, it was important to get three points and put us in a good position.’

Say what you like about the merits of a 48-team World Cup, but there’s jeopardy on the line in all these qualifiers.

The eventual group winner might be allowed one slip-up across the six matches. Anything more leaves no scope to recover.

Greece already have one strike against their name, a surprise 3-0 loss to the Danes last time out.

Were Scotland to see them off, then defeat Belarus at Hampden on Sunday, Clarke’s side would be in an enviable position before the group concludes next month with a trip to Athens and the Danes coming to Glasgow.

‘We take it two games at a time,’ said McGinn. ‘We know what we need to do to set us up for an exciting November.

‘Greece obviously had a poor result against Denmark, which surprised pretty much everyone, I think.

‘Sometimes you try and work it out and you’d probably prefer a draw.

‘But we’ve got an opportunity to go and put ourselves in the driving seat going into another home game (Belarus) and then a massive November.’