{"id":552765,"date":"2020-06-03T07:29:00","date_gmt":"2020-06-03T11:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/?p=552765"},"modified":"2020-12-28T11:28:47","modified_gmt":"2020-12-28T16:28:47","slug":"james-chester-to-remain-at-stoke-city-until-end-of-2019-20-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2020\/06\/03\/james-chester-to-remain-at-stoke-city-until-end-of-2019-20-season\/","title":{"rendered":"James Chester to Remain at Stoke City Until End of 2019\/20 Season"},"content":{"rendered":"

Championship side Stoke City<\/a> have confirmed that on-loan defender James Chester will remain with the club until the end of the season. The centre-back, on loan from Premier League strugglers Aston Villa<\/a>, was due to leave at the end of May but he will now stay on until the late conclusion of the campaign.<\/p>\n

James Chester Extends Stoke City Loan<\/h2>\n

Time at Stoke<\/h3>\n

Chester joined struggling Stoke on deadline day of the January window. He had not made a single Villa appearance in the Premier League in the first half of the season. His only full 90 minutes came in the 2-1 FA Cup defeat to Fulham<\/a> at the start of January, while he started the 5-0 Carabao Cup win over a youthful Liverpool<\/a> side before being replaced by Kortney Hause with 13 minutes to go.<\/p>\n

Chester made his debut for Stoke in their first game after his move, a 3-1 win over fellow strugglers Charlton Athletic. He then played in the consecutive defeats to Preston North End and Queens Park Rangers before the Potters got back on track with a 2-0 win over Cardiff City<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He then sat out the stalemate with Blackburn Rovers before coming back into the side for the 1-1 draw away at Luton Town. His seventh and so-far last appearance then came in the excellent 5-1 win over Hull City, which proved to be the last match before the season was suspended.<\/p>\n

Comfortable With Returning<\/h3>\n

Chester has previously explained that he suffers from asthma, meaning that he is in the high-risk category of COVID-19. His partner is currently pregnant too, and he has questioned whether<\/a> the return to football is “for the right reasons”.<\/p>\n

In his latest column for The Athletic, though, Chester says he feels comfortable around others and he has become a lot more at ease about the return, which has been provisionally scheduled<\/a> for later this month.<\/p>\n

He said<\/a>: “Still, I’m relaxed about going back \u2014 even though I have asthma. I take an inhaler twice a day. I feel comfortable at the prospect of mixing with others though, given social distancing will still be in place. And we’re returning to do something we all love.”<\/p>\n

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Main Photo<\/p>\n

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Embed from Getty Images<\/a>