Analysis: John Terry’s bad break hurts more than defeat for Aston Villa

Barely half an hour had passed after the final whistle before it became apparent a 2-1 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday, the first league loss of the season on home soil, was the least of the manager’s worries.

All attentions turned to John Terry’s right foot and more tellingly the broken bone which now resides in it and could well have serious repercussions for a campaign which had just begun to click into gear.

Arguably no player was more important to Villa during the run of one defeat in 12 games which preceded Saturday than their skipper, who after a shaky start had firmly gotten to grips with the demands of the Championship.

It is not just Terry’s performances, which have never dipped below solid and had recently began to border on the excellent, that will be sorely missed.

Just as important was the leadership and sense of direction he had provided the team.

On Saturday, supporters got their first glimpse of a Terry-less Villa and it was not a particularly pleasant viewing.

Granted, their side was already in something of a hole after Adam Reach had blasted one of the fastest goals ever seen at Villa Park to hand Wednesday a 19th-second lead.

Within two minutes of Terry leaving the pitch, Jordan Rhodes doubled the advantage and thereafter Villa barely laid a glove on the visitors before Chris Samba netted a consolation with virtually the last kick of the game.

The competitive nature of the Championship means the odd bump in the road is inevitable and Wednesday, beaten in the play-offs in the past two seasons, are tougher opponents than most.

Even so, this felt a rather painful setback for Bruce, who now has a fortnight to dwell on the defeat before Villa head to QPR on Saturday week.

In the larger context, the result alone was not one to get overly distressed about. Villa, after all, remain in the top six following another weekend of unusual results in a notoriously unpredictable division.

Yet they missed the chance to significantly close the gap on those above and, after a run where they have convinced most observers of their ability to be top-six contenders, this was the kind of below-par performance which made you question whether they have enough to seriously challenge the top two.

With Josh Onomah, who had sparkled so brightly in the recent wins over Fulham and Preston, absent due to a groin injury, Bruce opted to hand Scott Hogan a first Championship start since August.

But the £12million striker failed to grasp his chance with a hopelessly anonymous display, which will have left many wondering whether he will ever succeed at Villa Park.

Elsewhere, too many players key to the recent climb up the table had serious off-days, with top scorer Albert Adomah in particular well shackled by Wednesday right-back Jack Hunt.

If there was a positive for Villa, it came from the bench. Callum O’Hare did not shy away in difficult circumstances after replacing Robert Snodgrass just 40 minutes in and set-up Samba for the last-gasp consolation.

The teenager was played in on the right of the box by Jack Grealish, who looked lively in his first appearance of the season after recovering from kidney damage. That was some solace for Bruce, on an otherwise nightmare day.