Barry in bullish mood

30 March 2009 14:17
Gareth Barry is confident England can maintain their 100 per cent record in World Cup qualifying Group Six with victory over Ukraine on Wednesday. Fabio Capello's men warmed up for the crucial contest with a 4-0 thrashing of Slovakia in a friendly at Wembley over the weekend. Barry started his ninth consecutive game for England and he admits he is pleased to be so heavily involved. The Aston Villa midfielder formed an effective partnership with Frank Lampard, with Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney also combining well. "To score four goals and play some good attractive football was a confidence boost ahead of Wednesday," Barry said on Sky Sports News. "I feel a big part of the squad at the moment. To feature in that many starts is good for my confidence and obviously the results are going well. "Steven and Wayne were interchanging their positions a lot and Frank and I was asked to play a bit deeper and see how the Slovakians were set up. "They were playing quite deep, which allowed Frank to push forward and he got a goal towards the end." England have been in fine form since Capello took charge at the start of 2008 and Barry has paid tribute to the Italian for turning around the team's fortunes after the disappointment of missing out on the European Championship under Steve McClaren. "He has installed confidence back into the players," Barry explained. "We were downbeat after not qualifying for Euro 2008 but everyone knows we have world class players and we can match anyone on our day." Barry is wary of the threat Ukraine may present in midweek as they are currently unbeaten in the group, but he believes England can record a fifth straight win and go on to reach next summer's tournament in South Africa. "The 100 per cent start is brilliant and it has set the group up nicely for us but there are still some tough games to go, starting on Wednesday, and we are not taking our foot off the gas. "We are expecting a completely different game (from Slovakia). It will be competitive and we have to show a lot of respect to Ukraine. "We know they have plenty of strengths but we will concentrate on England and know we are going into the game confident, sitting nicely in the group so there is no reason why we can't go out and complete another good performance." Barry's future at Aston Villa has been the subject of speculation since the end of last season, when a switch to Liverpool seemed set to go ahead. However, Barry has dismissed suggestions that he would like to play with more of his England team-mates on a weekly basis. "At England we have got a lot of top quality players who are regularly involved in the Champions League and they do say if you play with top quality players it can bring out the best in you," he said. "But I have great players at Villa who I enjoy playing with and I come away with England and they are here as well."

Source: SKY_Sports