Chennaiyin FC have announced that the club has signed former Aston Villa defender Christopher Herd, popularly known as Chris Herd, for the remainder of the season.
The Australian is a versatile player, capable of playing as a centre back, full back and a central midfielder. In essence, the 29-year-old is a like-for-like replacement for Inigo Calderon, who recently parted ways with the club due to personal reasons.
Herd made his Premier League debut for Villa back in 2010 against Manchester United and went on to make 36 Premier League appearances for the Villans. He even scored a goal against Liverpool at Anfield. Apart from Villa, Herd has also represented other English clubs like Bolton Wanderers, Wigan Athletic, Wycombe Wanderers, Lincoln City, Chesterfield, Gillingham and Port Vale.
Outside England, Herd has played in the A-League in Australia with Western Sydney Wanderers. He was also signed by Thai League 1 team Buriram United in 2018 and helped them reach the final of the Thai FA Cup.
On the international stage, Herd has represented the Australia U20 team and also has three caps for the senior team. He made his debut for the Socceroos in a friendly against Belgium back in 2014.
Chennaiyin will hope Herd’s inclusion adds some much-needed solidity to their backline for the remainder of the season. Chennaiyin are currently rooted to the bottom of the Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2018-19 table with just five points from 13 matches.
