'Forgotten man' Hutton's day to remember at Villa!

ALAN Hutton admits the early years of his Villa career were a nightmare, but he relished the opportunity to eventually change fans' perceptions of him before leaving as a cult hero.

- By JOHN TOWNLEY

event from Villa's 'Bomb Squad' to a Wembley play-off final winner

The former right-back arrived from Tottenham in August 2011, making 31 Premier League appearances during the 2011/12 campaign. However, he was cast aside by Paul Lambert just a year later.

Hutton went on a series of loans - first to Nottingham Forest in November 2012, then to Mallorca for the remainder of the 2012/13 season, and finally to Bolton for the second half of the 2013/14 campaign.

"Those early years were really, really difficult for me at Aston Villa," Hutton told Ladbrokes at the recent launch of Ladisfaction. "I was coming in and wasn't even training with the first team; I didn't have a relationship with them, I wasn't speaking to them, I was in a different changing room. I was having to deal with that at work, and then coming home to a young family, and I was trying to juggle so much.

"I can look back now and say it was a nightmare, definitely. Things didn't go great in the first year, and I knew I hadn't played to the level I knew I could. The team was struggling a little bit, as was the manager, and it just didn't quite work out. You're gutted about the whole situation.