Source: Daily_Mail
Cheeky Bulgar: Aston Villa are better without Gareth Barry, says Stiliyan Petrov
Aston Villa skipper Stiliyan Petrov is glad Gareth Barry left for Manchester City.
Midfielder Barry ended his 12-year stay at Villa Park when he joined City in a £12million move earlier in the summer.
Since his departure, Villa boss Martin O'Neill has played Petrov alongside Steve Sidwell and Nigel Reo-Coker in central midfield and the Blulgarian believes the team has improved without former captain Barry.
stiliyan petrov
Stepping up: Petrov (left) is happy to be playing a bigger part at Villa
'It is good, we look more compact and we work very hard for each other,' Petrov told the Daily Mirror.
'We lost an incredible player and person in Gareth but life is going on - we just need to battle without him.
'We talk more now on the field, we are more organised and we look after each other ,which is a very important thing in our game.
'Nigel and Steve Sidwell have come back raring to go and have been great through pre-season, and they were great against Fulham.
garteh barry
Immediate impact: Barry (left) has played his part in City's impressive start
'We are happy to have these two players in the team and so far it has been working.
'Different players have different strengths and we try to put it all together as a team.
'We are improving and we hope we can get a few more goals between me, Nigel and Sidy.
'It would be nice as we are working on it and I think it will happen soon.'
