Stoke defender James Chester plays through the pain barrier
JAMES Chester couldn’t play for Stoke last week because his knee flaredup and he admits there have been days when he feared he wouldn’t play again. The Potters got by without Chester in their defence, holding promotion chasing Reading to a goalless draw and probably just about deserving to win it.
For Chester, it’s a daily personal battle he has to keep winning.
His right knee is shot. A damaged cartilage hurt every time he ran and now bone bangs on bone.
Chester played on for Aston Villa during all the damage but then had to sit it out, repair, rest and recuperate for nearly a year before playing again.
“I must admit that when I was injured during my time at Villa I wasn’t sure if I would play again,” says Chester, 31, who joined Stoke initially on loan and now has a one-year contract.
“But then I got fit and believed I could still play. I spoke to Stoke’s manager, Michael O’Neill, and said I thought I’d be ok but how often was still a question mark, to be honest.
“But I’ve been really pleased with how it’s gone and I haven’t missed too many games.”
Chester cost Aston Villa £9m from West Brom in August 2016 and the fact that he played so many games while injured because Villa were so short of centre-halves brought this tribute from John Terry when he left a year ago.
“Loved playing alongside this man. Rolls-Royce. Unbelievable player and man. Legend. Good luck, partner.”
Chester’s final league game for Villa was in the Championship, a 2-1 home win over Ipswich in January 2019.
He had two final outings in the Carabao Cup 5-0 win over Liverpool’s kids in December 2019 and an FA Cup defeat at Fulham in January 2020.
The knee got a good testing on loan at Stoke last February with his first three games in seven days.
“Doctors and physios didn’t think I’d be able to do that anymore but my knee was fine,” says Chester .
“I know I’ve damaged my body indefinitely. It’s something I’m going to have to manage for the rest of my career.
“Hopefully I can look after it and play for as long as possible. It is what it is, I’m a professional. My personal target is to show more than what I showed last season on loan.
“I think I’m still learning to adapt with the injuries my body sustained and perhaps having to play in a different way.”
Chester had suddenly played more games in a week than he’d played for nearly a year, but gradually he has come to terms with the adjustment his wonky knee needs him to make.
Different
Before yesterday’s trip to high-flying Norwich, he’d missed 11 of Stoke’s 34 games in all competitions this season.
He had a run of ten consecutive league appearances from November into the
New Year in this heavily demanding season.
“I really wasn’t sure how the injury would hold up and how often I would be able to play,” Chester underlines once more.
“But the loan last season gave me confidence because I played more than I thought I would. Playing ten games consecutively this season, and in such a short space of time, has been good for the confidence I have in my body.”
Chester became a favourite among Villa fans for his determination to play on, despite the pain and problems, when the club was initially at a low ebb and then going for promotion back to the Premier League.
He had a predecessor in Paul McGrath who was signed for Villa by Graham Taylor and, despite the pain from knees that would not let him train properly, became a superstar at the club in his seven years and 253 games.
Chester was at Villa for four years and made 119 appearances.
His difficulty was the fluid produced naturally in the knee to help him cope as bone grated on bone once the cartilage had gone completely.
Chester could not bend the knee fully and that caused other muscles to suffer and the problem escalated.
The answer was for him to try specialised food and he was recommended to a chef who also aids Troy Deeney’s on-going fitness.
Chester got a delivery two or three times a week and all he had to do was unwrap and heat it up.
Delivery
The super takeaway service worked and the inflammation in Chester’s knee eased.
When he got to Stoke on loan, Chester made 13 starts, the Potters winning seven and drawing three, to climb out of the Championship relegation zone and finish 15th at the end of a tumultuous season. Up until early December this season, Stoke were banging on the door of the top six, but since then they have fallen away.
One league victory in 12 pre-weekend, and
to
I’m going have to manage the my knee for career. rest of my to I’m still learning play adapt and differently James Chester
We’d like to be a few points better off but the turnaround from where the club was last season to now is pleasing
James Chester
no win at all in ten games in all competitions, and the Potters’ play-off hopes are cracked.
Stoke, usually tight in defence, have shipped three goals against Watford, Huddersfield, Norwich and Rotherham. Three more against Spurs in the Carabao Cup and four against Leicester in the FA Cup.
They are Stoke’s worst defensive displays of the season - and Chester didn’t start any of those games.
When he’s played the worst they have been beaten is 2-0 and he’s had ten clean sheets. g Chester’s continuing importance is clear from the stats. d “We started well this season and then we had a spell where we conceded quite a few,” he admits.
“There was a meeting to address that. If you keep clean sheets in this division then you give yourself a good chance of winning games.
“The clean sheet record we have is good, but when we have conceded we have conceded too many.
“If we can address that then we’ll have a chance of picking up more points. It’s something we are working on.
“With the number of clean sheets we have kept, you’d be hopeful of nicking a goal in some of those games and be a few points better off than we are at the moment.
“But the turnaround from where the club was last season to now is pleasing.
“The manner in which we are trying to achieve these results and the way we are playing, I don’t think there can be an argument as to how much better it has been given the previous season.
“There are plenty of games left and plenty of points available.
“If we can maintain the standard of performance then I’d like to think we’ll get more points than we have done recently.
“It’s a case of continuing to believe in what we are doing, even though we haven’t had as many positive results as we would have liked just lately.”