James Chester ready to fight for Aston Villa starting spot after 10-month injury hell

The 30-year-old club captain made his first appearance after nearly 11 months out in Tuesday’s 5-0 Carabao Cup quarter-final win over Liverpool.

Prior to that, Chester had not featured since a 2-1 Championship win over Ipswich on January 26, having played through the pain barrier of a knee injury during a time when Villa were desperately short in defence.

“From the first minute to the 90th of that Ipswich game, I didn't enjoy it at all,” he said.

“I was just looking forward to the final whistle to be honest because of what I'd put my body through and I thought it had started to have an affect on my performance.

“I was doing myself an injustice the longer the time went on.

“I feared that might have been my lasting memory of playing for this club but thankfully the last 10 or 11 months were all worth it for Tuesday evening.”

Chester claims he will “never forget” the ovation he received from Villa supporters after being substituted late on in Tuesday’s match.

Out of contract next summer, he is now targeting more appearances as the club enter a crucial festive programme in the Premier League.

“I hope I've planted a seed,” he said. “Before Tuesday it would have been difficult to knock on the manager's door because I'm not under any illusions at not playing any football between January and now.

“But I felt really good being back out on the pitch. There are a lot of games between now and the end of January. Hopefully I can get back in the team.

“We'll just have to wait and see. It would certainly be a nice Christmas present!

“I love playing for this club and there are a lot of games between now and the end of January so hopefully my performance this evening has planted a seed and we'll see where that takes us.”

Chester joined Villa in a £6million move from Albion in 2016 and did not miss a league match during his first two seasons at the club.

Last term, he played for more than two months with his knee injury before eventually admitting defeat, while a hamstring injury suffered in pre-season set his return back further.

“It was a tough time – I wasn't training at all during the week and I was having an injection in my leg every Saturday to play the game.

“It's just the way I've been brought up. This is the biggest club I will ever play for in my career and I wanted to treat that with the respect I felt it deserved.

“It was difficult at the time – when I came out of the team, I never envisaged being out for so long.

“The vast majority of that time was just letting the injury settle down and then I built my way back up into training.

“It's not been overnight thing and there have been some days where I felt I was making progress and you have setbacks.

“But Tuesday has made it all worthwhile, and certainly the reception I got when I came off the pitch was something I will never forget."