Aston Villa Football Club News

• Nickname:The Villains
• Founded:1874
• Manager:Alex McLeish

• Ground:Villa Park
• Capacity:42,584

O'Neill hails Barry performance

01 Sep 2008 - 07:36:13

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Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill was delighted with the performance of Gareth Barry in the goalless draw against Liverpool at Villa Park on Sunday.

The 27-year-old England international had seemed set to join the Reds for much of the summer, before the deal was eventually shelved and Barry remained with the Midlands club.

O'Neill said: "Gareth did very well. He has had a lot to cope with in recent weeks with all the speculation.

"Three weeks ago I would have imagined he would be playing against us.

"It wasn't to be and we are pretty pleased and relieved that he is with us for the foreseeable future and I thought it didn't bother him at all.

"He was getting a bit tired towards the end so I put him in at left-back, where he can still be very solid for us."

O'Neill was also pleased to see his side continue their fine run of results against the teams included in the so-called big four.

He added: "We drew at Liverpool last season 2-2 in a thrilling game when conceding late on.

"We took four points off Chelsea and we led until the 93rd minute against Arsenal at the Emirates.

"When people talk about the records being not so good against these teams, I can only judge from the last couple of seasons and the points on the table."