Lewis Stevenson insists Hibs won't let Aston Villa tickle their tummy as he hopes for John McGinn 'spooked' factor

Lewis Stevenson is praying his old pal John McGinn suffers a dose of the Hibee heebie-jeebies to ruin his Easter Road homecoming.

Stevenson, the club’s record league appearance holder, admits he’s never known a player to make such an impact at the club as the Scotland hero who left for Aston Villa in 2018. But the 35-year-old has reminded supporters that for 180 or so minutes over the next 10 days he will be the enemy. It’s set to be an emotional occasion for McGinn. But Stevenson insists there’s not a chance Lee Johnson’s side will roll over and let the Villa skipper and his star-studded Premier League side tickle their belly.

In fact he hopes the spotlight might even spook him into suffering an off night. Stevenson said: “I think John’s probably as excited as we are. It’s probably somewhere he thought he would never play again. I thought I’d never play against him again. He was unbelievable here, a proper hero in the relatively short time he was here. I’ve never seen someone make such an impact with the fans, the whole club. It will be great to see him back but when that whistle starts he’s on the opposite side and he is the enemy.

“The club still means a great deal to him as well - hopefully he will be a bit spooked by that and maybe off guard a bit. We’ve seen him thrive and get better and better and he’s one of the best players in the Premier League, to do so well for Scotland is great to see but we can’t focus too much on him.

“It’s still a competitive game, an amazing occasion for us. We have to make a decent game of it. You still want to be in with a chance. I can’t emphasise how hard it’s going to be but we’re not just here to make up the numbers or be here for the occasion. We need to try and put some sort of