Villa defender James Collins today spoke of his pain and devastation following the shock death of Gary Speed.

Collins played alongside the former Leeds United, Everton and Newcastle midfielder for Wales and in recent times he skippered the national side under Speed’s management.

The 28-year-old centre-back found out the news only a few hours before Villa’sgoalless draw with Swansea at the Liberty Stadium yesterday in a match which was rendered meaningless by the death of Speed  at his Cheshire home.

“I’m just devastated to be honest. It’s a sad loss of a man who was doing great, great things for Welsh football. I played with him as well for a long time, so it was hard to even play the game,” said Collins.

“We knew two hours before, just when we were getting to the ground. It was heart-breaking. It was probably a game he would have been watching.

“I can’t speak highly enough of him. He was a great player in his time. Obviously I played with him for Wales and he’s been my manager for a few years now, so it’s devastating.

“Wales have been absolutely flying, he’s been doing great things for Welsh football so that’s even more devastating.

“We were on the verge of great things, so everyone who’s been involved or who has ever met him is going to be devastated.

“Shay Given was obviously devastated, same as everyone. Shay was very close with him and you could see that in the minute’s silence. He was so emotional that you didn’t know if he was going to play the game.

“That just says it all, how seriously affected everyone’s lives are. We’re all just devastated and our thoughts are with his family.”
Villa boss Alex McLeish also paid tribute to Speed and admitted that the moment keeper Given informed him of  the news he felt a shiver down his spine.

“It was terrible news. Shay Given gave it to me, 10 minutes before my team-talk and my blood ran cold. It’s just unbelievable,” said McLeish.

“Shay was getting his head round it because he’d been told earlier in the day. It would have been more devastating for him if he’d heard it from a whisper around the stadium where the story started to reverberate.

“Shay told James and of course then it’s the domino effect in terms of feeling it after losing such a great guy. There will be a few more tears shed, absolutely no doubt about that.

“He was doing a brilliant job on the international front. It looked like international football was for him. Wales are flying at the moment. It’s a big loss to football. Of course the biggest loss is to his family. My heart goes out to Gary Speed’s family and friends.”