The chances of John Terry taking over at Ashton Gate in the near future appear to be over.
Asto Villa boss Dean Smith today refuted any suggestion that his assistant head coach could be joining Bristol City following a report in the Daily Express at the weekend suggesting that Bristol City had switched attentions to the former Chelsea man after Steven Gerrard had rejected the chance to take over.
And Smith was asked about the Villa coach in his pre-Arsenal press conference taking place on Monday afternoon.
Smith reiterated what he said two weeks ago that Terry is staying at Villa Park and is not interested in succeeding Lee Johnson for his first managerial role.
"I answered it a couple of weeks ago," said Smith, as reported by Birmingham Live.
"I spoke to JT about the Bristol City link and he said no.
"He's fully-focused on the job here.
"We have a really good working relationship and a good relationship away from work as well.
"We really enjoy working together."
That follows Smith playing down any links involving Terry back on 11 July originally.
He told Sky Sports News: "I have spoken to John and he is fully committed to our cause here at Aston Villa.
"They've got Dean Holden, a former coach of mine, in charge at the moment. He is working hard for his club and JT is certainly working very hard for me.
"We've got a very good relationship and we enjoy working together."
When pushed on whether he could be in line for the role it was still available at the end of the season, Smith is reported to have said: "I don't think we can look at the summer, we've got to look at now."
Bristol Live understands that Steven Gerrard is the no.1 head coach target for Bristol City, though the Rangers boss may reject any interest to stay at Ibrox.
