Source: Team_Talk
Summer success crucial - Barry
The Aston Villa midfielder is confident England are making the right steps forward under Fabio Capello.
Captain John Terry's late winner against Ukraine at Wembley ensured England reached the halfway stage in their qualifying group with a 100% record from five games.
Barry said: "The 100% record is there still and we have a nice little cushion. We are halfway there now, we are top of the group and we have beaten everyone in the group.
"We know things could change quickly. We have got to be professional about
the games in the summer and two wins there and we will be virtually there.
"I think everyone knew that we needed as a nation to improve and I think this squad has shown that we have. We are making the right steps forward and hopefully under this manager we can keep that going."
For Barry it is a sharp contrast to the last World Cup in Germany when he was not even part of Sven-Goran Eriksson's plans.
Now his contribution is such that he finished runner-up to Wayne Rooney in the Nationwide England player of the year poll for 2008.
He added: "I feel a big part of the team at the moment and part of the squad, which is great after quite a few years without collecting a cap.
"There are some great players in there and to be part of it is really enjoyable, especially when you are winning games. It would be massive to play in the World Cup and go to South Africa.
"It will be a fantastic moment for me in my career if we can succeed and go through."
Barry believes England showed another side to their character in recovering from a late equaliser to beat Ukraine after the weekend stroll to victory against Slovakia.
He said: "They made it hard for us to play the passing game we did on Saturday. We knew it was going to be a tougher game and the competitive edge was evident from early on.
"We probably did sit back too much on the 1-0 lead instead of going for the second goal and they made us pay for that. But in terms of spirit and resilience after that, the lads were excellent.
"It is another confidence booster. It is a good test when you are pinned back with 10 or 15 minutes to go. It is another learning curve but the character was clearly there.
"The lads were feeling the Wembley pitch after two games there in five days, but we knew we had the players there to go and get the winner.
"The players are playing with no fear and, with 10-15 minutes to go, we could have sat back and played for the draw but we didn't want that. We wanted the three points."
Barry is delighted with the impact made by his former Villa team-mate Peter Crouch, who celebrated his first start under Capello by scoring the opening goal.
He said: "The chance was there for Crouchy through injures to people and, for him to go on and score and prove a few people wrong, was great.
"Crouchy is more than capable of doing the job and he proved it."
