Having won 15 major honours at Stamford Bridge, including five Premier League titles, the Champions League and Europa League, Terry ended a 22-year association with the Blues when he dropped down a level to sign a one-year contract with Steve Bruce’s Villa.
Terry snubbed interest from other Premier League clubs because of a reluctance to face Chelsea and the 36-year-old is still hungry to collect more winners’ medals before he turns to management.
However, the former Chelsea and England captain knows that the Midlands club’s season would have to be deemed a failure if they do not restore their top-flight status.
Asked where winning promotion with Villa would rank in his career, Terry said: “It would be really special, it would be up there for me. To step out of my comfort zone was a big decision for me.
Despite everything I have an inclination that I can play, henceforth my choice to come here. There's sufficient motivation inside of me to push myself forward. Working with different players, seeing other teammates that I've not played with. Everything here energizes me.
“I don’t think I’d ever want to come into a season where I’d go: ‘I’m happy if we stay up or I’m happy if we finish halfway or do better than we did last year.’ I think that would be really unambitious of myself, of the manager, of the football club as well. That’s a big reason why I signed here; I wanted to be winning more times than losing.
Asked if not winning promotion would mean the club had failed, Terry said: “Yeah, you could say that. The manager has pulled everyone together, his vision is clear, the players have the same ambitions and rightly so.
“We have to go up as champions, if not automatically. Does that bring more pressure on you? Probably. Do we like that as a group? Yeah. I think we have to handle that. We are one of the biggest clubs in the league and with the history of this club as well, it deserves to be back in the Premier League.”