The Aston Villa defender has been out of the frame since January.
Richard O’Kelly has revealed that James Chester is looking and sounding very sharp in Aston Villa training.
The Wales international has had a miserable calendar year after missing the Villans’ run-in for Premier League promotion due to being sidelined since January.
In addition to that, the Aston Villa defender then picked up a hamstring problem during the summer which has kept him out until now.
But Chester, an £8 million signing under Roberto Di Matteo in 2016 [Birmingham Mail], is in contention to make his long-awaited comeback for tomorrow’s visit of Wolves in the League Cup.
And O’Kelly, Dean Smith’s assistant, told the club’s official YouTube channel that he’ll be a welcome return, both as a player and as a character.
O’Kelly said: “James Chester has stepped his training up and he’s looking very good. He sounds very good as well. His personality and character is fantastic. It’s great to have him back. He’ll be a great return for the squad.”
Now that he’s fit, Chester has arguably a bigger battle on the horizon: getting into the team.
Smith signed no fewer than four centre-halves during the summer – Tyrone Mings, Kortney Hause, Bjorn Engels and Ezri Konsa – and there’s undoubtedly huge competition.
That being said, Chester has more Premier League experience than every one of them and that’ll stand him in very good stead.
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