Chester has missed just one game in the Championship for Villa this season.
Nathan Baker has explained how impressed he has been by the consistency of Aston Villa teammate James Chester since the defender arrived in the summer, the Express and Star reports.
Chester surprised some by dropping out of the Premier League to join the Villans from Midlands rivals West Bromwich Albion. But he has shown few signs of complacency since the switch, and Baker has outlined the impact that the 27-year-old has made since his arrival, both on and off the pitch.
Aston Villa’s James Chester
“He’s a quiet character in many ways but when he needs to get his point across, he certainly does, whether that’s in conversation in the dressing room during the week at Bodymoor Heath or in the dressing room on matchday,” he said, as reported by the Express and Star.
“His displays on the field speak for themselves. He’s always an eight out of 10 in the ratings and consistently one of the best performers each and every week. His standards are very high – and they never drop.
“The main factor I notice with James on the pitch is his calmness. He’s Mr Calm. Often I think the best defensive players are the ones you don’t tend to notice during the 90 minutes because they’re just doing their job without any fuss – James is always one of those players.”
Though Villa have struggled to adapt to life in the second tier – they won just one of their first 12 games in the league – their defensive record has still been hugely impressive.
No side currently in the play-off places in the division has conceded fewer goals than Steve Bruce’s men, while only four in the entire league have had to pick the ball out of their net on fewer occasions.
With Chester featuring in all but one of their league games this term, it is surely safe to say that his influence has been one of the main reasons for their strength at the back.
And with Bruce’s arrival signalling an upturn in form for the side going forward, it appears that they may well be in contention to move into the promotion picture in the near future.
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