James Chester: Consistency is key for Aston Villa

The club’s first campaign outside the top flight for almost three decades was marked by significant upheaval, with Steve Bruce becoming their fifth permanent manager in the space of just 20 months when he replaced the axed Roberto Di Matteo in October.

Chester, meanwhile, was one of 17 new players to arrive through the door, with Bruce adding eight signings in January to the nine made by Di Matteo last summer.

The scale of change was signified by Nathan Baker being the only player to start both the first and final games of the season and while Chester accepts Villa’s 13th-placed finish fell well short of expectations, he does believe there were mitigating circumstances.

“I think the changes make it tough for the club in general,” he said.

“There is a change of manager. The signings he has brought in are perhaps not fancied by the new manager and the cycle starts again.

“It is important to have some consistency. The manager has got the players in now that he wants and next season is huge for the club.

“With the constant change of managers at this club over the years there have been players coming in and out non-stop. It is nice to have some stability now.”

Bruce’s arrival after Villa had won just one of their first 11 league games sparked an improvement and they entered the new year on the fringes of the play-off places.

But a busy January, which also saw eight players depart, hindered momentum and Villa briefly threatened to be sucked into a relegation battle before a run of seven wins in eight games saw them climb back into mid-table. For all the disappointment at the finish, Chester believes the foundations are now in place for Villa to kick on and make a genuine challenge for promotion next season.

“I am not sure how much business will be done in the summer but we have a squad of players here now who seem to want to be here and do the right thing for the club,” he said.

“That is important. We had that at Hull when the manager was there.

“We had decent players but more importantly they were also good lads who were willing to put the work in and get good results.

“I see that happening here with the squad we have now. We are all hoping next season is successful.”

While the season was a failure for Villa, for Chester it was something of a personal success. The 28-year-old played every single minute following his £6million switch from Albion a week into the campaign.

“Having left Hull to go to West Brom I thought it was important for my career to stay in the Premier League,” he said. “Having not played many games (at Albion) I quickly decided playing football was the most important thing for me.

“I have not missed a game here. I said in the interviews a couple of weeks ago that it feels special every time you play a game for this club. It’s a season I have really enjoyed. As a club we have not achieved what we wanted but next season is huge and I am hoping it brings some success.”