When John Terry was announced as assistant to Dean Smith, many Villa fans were overjoyed with the news, and rightly so, because the new managerial partnership could prove to be the best business Aston Villa have made all season. 

The retired defender made 32 appearances for Villa last season, and his last game in his career ended in disappointing fashion as Aston Villa were defeated by Fulham at Wembley in the Play-Off final.

The new role is Terry's first as a non-playing role and he has the potential to be a real force with Dean Smith guiding him as manager of the club.

Smith has already proved that he can take teams into the top six, which he has proven in his previous spell as manager at Brentford.

Terry expressed his delight at working at Villa in his new role on his official Instagram account.

'Delighted and excited by this great opportunity to be back @avfcofficial'????⚽️????✏️

In an interview with BBC Sport, Terry admitted that he was keen to learn from Villa's new boss Dean Smith and potentially progress into a manager in the future.

"This is a new chapter for me and something I am really looking forward to."

"I have aspirations to be a manager one day," said Terry, 37. "But that is in four or five years - I'm nowhere near the finished article.

"If anything it is more intimidating for me. I want to learn from him."

Terry and Smith will take charge of their first game at Aston Villa when they take on Swansea at Villa Park this weekend in what is set to be a closely-fought encounter between the two sides.