Sky Sports pundit Andy Hinchcliffe has offered his verdict on James Chester’s move to Stoke City believing that the defender could provide much-needed experience to the Potters’ backline according to an interview for Sky Sports EFL Podcast.
Chester made the switch to Stoke from Premier League side Aston Villa on loan until the end of the season and he could be handed his debut when they face Charlton Athletic at the Bet365 Stadium on Saturday.
Stoke have enjoyed some positive results of late against West Bromwich Albion, Swansea City and Huddersfield Town but their most recent game against Derby County was a real setback as they were thrashed 4-0 by the East Midlands side.
Michael O’Neill’s side are certainly in need of defensive organisation and Chester has real experience at both Championship and Premier League level and could prove to be an important signing for the rest of the season.
“With James Chester, you know what you’re going to get,” Hinchcliffe said. “He is a proper central defender.”
“It looked like Stoke had climbed away from the bottom three and they were definitely improving but that was a huge setback at Derby.”
“It is a positive move. Although it is a defender that they’ve signed, they need to shore things up at the back and to save themselves, that is where it has to start and Chester could play a huge part in that.”
Chester has endured a frustrating time with injuries in recent times and has had limited first-team opportunities at Villa Park due to the form of Tyrone Mings and Bjorn Engels as well as their signings of Kortney Hause and Ezri Konsa.
