New Aston Villa skipper John Terry confident he can handle Championship demands

The 36-year-old will on Saturday lead his new team out for the first time at Villa Park in a competitive fixture when they host Hull City.

Terry’s decision to turn down more lucrative offers in the top flight and from abroad in order to join what Villa and their manager Steve Bruce hope will be a promotion push has rightly been hailed a coup.

Yet the five-time Premier League winner’s age, coupled with the fact he made only 14 appearances for Chelsea last season, have led some to question whether he still has the durability for the second tier’s busier schedule and the often more physical nature of the contests.

Terry, used to fighting on several fronts until late in the campaign at Stamford Bridge, has no such concerns.

“I’ll take 46 games, normally I’m playing between 60 and 65,” he smiled. “Everyone keep raising that point but for the last 18 years I’ve played 60-65 games.

“I’ve been late in competitions and everything else. You’re always at the back end of the season playing a lot of games.

“That doesn’t worry me at all.

“Steve is going to look after me at certain points with recovery days and everything else. But I’m sure it won’t be a problem.”

Terry has only been at Villa for a month but already feels a big part of the club. Handed the captain’s armband by Bruce, his is a big voice in a dressing room which no longer lacks them.

Any supporters who perhaps queried the desire of a player who will forever be defined by his time at Chelsea should have taken heart in his assertion, earlier this week, that only the Championship title will suffice with Villa. Terry also confirmed he is considering moving his family to the Midlands.

“We’ve looked at a couple of places, though we haven’t found anywhere at the moment,” he said.

“It’s a difficult one because the kids are 11 and are at really important stages at their schools at the moment. We’re juggling that one, finding the balance at the moment. I’ve done 10 days in the last couple of weeks where I’ve stayed up.

“If I do get an opportunity to go down, I’ve been shooting down. The journey’s not too bad.

“But physically, I need to be here. The family understand that if we decide not to move up.

“Family comes first and the kids’ school is very important. If the family have to stay there and I have to stay away from them a few days a week, then we’ll do that.

“What I won’t do is, if we have a game, I won’t be doing a journey of one-to-two hours the day before or two days before.

“The professionalism, even though I’m stepping down, remains the same with me.

“Being in a hotel two days before a game is a given for me.”

Terry is poised to partner James Chester in the heart of defence for the visit of the Tigers. Sam Johnstone should start in goal, after missing Villa’s final pre-season fixture through injury.

Terry's one-year contract is thought to be worth around £60,000-a-week and his focus is very much on the nine months ahead. After that, he is keeping his options open.

Asked if he might stay at Villa beyond this season, Terry replied: “I’m not too sure. It’s not within the deal. Solely the main purpose for me is for this one year to play as a player and nothing else, and give it everything I’ve got to get us there.

“If that is the case and we do get there, then it’s a discussion we’ll all have to have.

“Steve will be the obvious one to make that decision.

“But depending on how I felt after the season and everything else, then who knows?

“Every ex-player I spoke to over the summer, the first thing they said to me was ‘play as long as you can’. There will be a point in your life when your body tells you ‘no’.

“At the minute, touch wood, I’m not at that point. Will that be the case in a year? I’m not too sure. My body will tell me before any ex-player, pundit or ex-manager or anyone else will tell me.

“At the minute, I feel good. Whether that’s because I didn’t play as many games last year or because I’ve had a full pre-season under my belt, I don’t know.

“The season gets underway this weekend and we’ll see how we go from there.”