Aston Villa chance should await Josh Feeney after Huddersfield Town exploits

Josh Feeney enjoyed a good loan spell with Huddersfield Town last season, with the young defender now returning to Aston Villa.

The 21-year-old has been with Aston Villa since the summer of 2021, when he joined from Fleetwood Town.

After impressing in Villa's academy system, the centre-back has been granted loan spells with Spanish side Real Union and Shrewsbury Town previously.

Feeney is a former England youth international too, having represented the Three Lions at Under-16, 17 and 18 levels respectively.

Evidently a young defender with plenty of talent and potential, he was given the biggest move of his career so far last summer when signing on loan for Huddersfield.

And, despite the Terriers finishing ninth in the third-tier table, Feeney certainly left a strong impression at the Accu Stadium.

How did Josh Feeney fare with Huddersfield?

Joining Town on a season-long loan, it wasn't immediately obvious how big of a role Feeney would play for the West Yorkshire outfit.

He would also come to be tested with managerial disruption too, with Huddersfield starting last season with Lee Grant in charge, but replacing him in January with Liam Manning.

Despite that, Feeney would evolve into an important player in their first-team squad last term, playing 31 times in all competitions.

24 of those came in League One with 18 being from the starting lineup, and his underlying numbers show just how impactful he was for Huddersfield.

As per FotMob, Feeney was dispossessed zero times in League One last season, whilst also being dribbled past an average of just 0.10 times per game.

On top of that, he also won 70 per cent of his aerial duels and 68 per cent of his ground duels, as well as averaging 12 defensive contributions per 90 minutes.

Feeney recorded a solid passing accuracy rate of 82.3 per cent, took 0.61 headed shots per game, made 28 tackles, 42 recoveries and a total of 236 defensive contributions respectively.

Understood to be contracted with Aston Villa until the summer of 2027, Feeney now returns to Villa Park ahead of a crucial 2026-27 season ahead.

Whatever happens, Villa need to bring Feeney into the first-team fold in pre-season, as they will want to be making as informed a decision as possible when it comes to his contract in the near future.

Feeney won't need a pre-season break

For many players, their minutes are carefully managed in pre-season after going through a long and testing season prior.

Aston Villa will also have to contend with a number of their stars having played at a World Cup this summer too, which should also open up further opportunities for youngsters to play in pre-season.

However, despite having played a season of senior football last term, Feeney should be raring to go this summer after how his campaign ended with Huddersfield.

That's because he suffered a quad injury after Town's game against Reading on 3 April, which ruled him out for the remainder of the season.

It wasn't a serious injury though, and he is expected to be fully fit by the time Aston Villa's pre-season friendlies begin.