Aston Villa’s James Chester has told the Daily Express, with comments being reported by Birmingham Mail, that he believes head coach Steve Bruce is the man to get them back into the Premier League.

Villa started the season poorly and it appeared for a while that they were going to have another year like last time where they are stuck in mid-table instead of challenging for promotion like they wanted. But despite the pressure and calls for him to be sacked, Bruce was able to turn things around and the club are now rising up the Sky Bet Championship table and look good for their pre-season promise of getting promoted.

And Chester has now backed Bruce to be the man who returns them to the Premier League. He would know as well, having played under Bruce when Hull City got promoted to the top tier back in 2013. And now he has said that he can do the same now that he’s on the touchline at Villa Park.

He said: “I was really pleased to see the gaffer come through the door. Everyone enjoys working for him and I’ve not seen a change in him from the success we had at Hull to here now.”

“Whoever you speak to around the club, whether it’s players or staff, you get the same response as to the type of man he is with people individually.”

“We didn’t start the season as well as we wanted to. He seemed to bear the brunt of that when it was ultimately down to what we do on the pitch. He makes sure that he looks after his players in that sense.”