John McGinn daring to dream about World Cup but knows Greece will test Scotland

John McGinn is already allowing himself to picture Scotland at next summer’s World Cup even though he knows they will have to “suffer” to get there.

The Scots will book their place at the global showpiece for the first time since 1998 if they avoid defeat in Greece on Saturday and then beat Denmark at Hampden next Tuesday.

“You’d be lying if you said you didn’t think about it,” said Aston Villa midfielder McGinn in an interview with the Scottish Football Association from Scotland’s training camp in Turkey.

“You see teams qualifying, you remember the feeling of qualifying for two European Championships and just think about every celebration times two.

“I 100 per cent have thought about it. I allow myself to think about it because why not manifest it and just see if you can put yourself in that position.

“Standing in the tunnel on Saturday and on Tuesday, I’ll make sure I’ll take my mind to the Tartan Army in America, Mexico or Canada”.

Although daring to dream, McGinn is braced for a tough test in Piraeus on Saturday night as the Scots – who won 1-0 there in the Nations League in March – bid to get the point they need to set up a final-night shootout with Group C leaders Denmark.

“If you asked us at the start of the campaign, ‘would we like to be in this position?’ I think the majority of us and the majority of the country would say ‘yes’,” said McGinn.

“I think we can be pleased with where we’re at. We’ve given ourselves a great opportunity to qualify directly, and we’re going to give it our absolute everything to do that. It’s amazing to be in this position.

“I’m sure the whole nation is excited, but for us it’s about bottling that excitement up and using it to fuel us for Saturday.

“We know it’s going to be so difficult. Greece will feel like they owe us one. We need to go there and put in a similar performance to what we did when we won there last time out.

“We’re going to have to suffer, we know that. We’re going to have to defend, we’re going to have to put our bodies on the line. But if you want to play in a World Cup, if you want to play on the biggest stage, you need to suffer at times and feel that. We’re excited, we’re fully prepared and ready to go.”