They have to have a fair bit of experience, be totally committed, and it helps if they know when to play football and when to roll their sleeves up. Often they’re players who have played at the top level and are now on their way down the leagues. Back in the third division days we had Andy Lochhead and George Curtis, to name the most obvious – players who had spent years in the old first division and were winding their careers down with maybe less ability than they once possessed but with no less effort. Sir Graham’s second division side had Steve Sims as well as a revitalised Allan Evans to do much the same job.

It’s hard to pick out players from the three seasons we’ve just endured because there was such a high turnover of personnel, but for me one man stands out in the category of 100% effort for the cause. Well, two actually but Glenn Whelan gets a good mention elsewhere so I’m going to save my praise for the player he replaced in the role that’s now euphemistically referred to as defensive midfielder but which always used to be known, probably more accurately, as a midfield enforcer.

Mile Jedinak joined the Villa from Crystal Palace in August 2016. He’d just turned 32 but anyone who thought he was yet another player coming here for a final easy payday quickly had their illusions shattered. Mile would never cover every blade of grass, but that wasn’t his job. His role was to make sure that the player he was marking couldn’t run around much either, at least not while doing anything dangerous, and he did this simple but often overlooked task to a decent standard. He was also the possessor of the best Villa beard since Dennis Mortimer, the sort of throwback to the Victorian days that put the likes of Olof Mellberg to shame.

In truth, Mile was never a particular favourite of many supporters, who would look at his occasionally misplaced pass and inability to last the full ninety minutes without perhaps realising that his failings were being highlighted by the inadequacies of his team-mates.

Mile played 33 league games in his first season, a respectable total for a player of his advanced years. Steve Bruce, both aiming to put his own stamp on the team and also showing that any manager given money to spend will do so without thinking where it’s coming from, brought in Glenn Whelan to do the same job and Mike was sidetracked for a long while, spent some time injured or else played in central defence where his natural heading ability stood him in good stead. He wasn’t a John Terry, few are, but he was as reliable as ever.

Bruce’s strange ideas about team-building meant that when Mile played during the start of last season it was again in the middle of defence, while Axel Tuanzebe was out at right-back. Again, Mile unfairly bore much of the criticism for the inconsistent start that was to cost Bruce his job.

Dean Smith’s arrival saw Whelan and Conor Hourihane the preferred choices in the role Jedinak had been bought for and another injury further restricted his first team opportunities. But, perhaps surprisingly, Mile was available as a squad option for the last, record-breaking, lap of the season. His final appearance in a league game was ten minutes up front during that insane visit to Elland Road while his last kick in claret and blue put us two-nil up in the penalty shoot-out at the Hawthorns, when he had created some sort of record by coming on after 122 minutes purely for such an instance. There’s a man whose manager knows he can be relied on when the pressure’s at its greatest.