Aston Villa striker John Carew believes James Milner has this season filled the gap left by Gareth Barry.
Villa forward says club have not noticed departure of former captain
Aston Villa striker John Carew believes James Milner has this season filled the gap left by Gareth Barry.
Barry controversially left Villa for City in a £12million move last summer, which caused anger among a number of Villa fans.
The 29-year-old England international had previously spent 12 years at the club, although his last few seasons with the Claret and Blues were dogged by transfer rumours.
Some had speculated that Villa would find it difficult to fill the void left by Barry in midfield this term but Milner has put in some excellent performances that have propelled him onto the international stage.
Carew has praised Milner for his improvement throughout the course of the season, and says he has surpassed all expectations at the beginning of the campaign.
"We've managed to deal without Gareth - and James has done very well with his performance this season," he said.
"I won't compare him to other players but there's been some outstanding performances from him.
"I think he filled the gap after Gareth, maybe even more. We haven't really noticed (Gareth's departure) to be fair and the team has got stronger.
Expectations
"James had a lot of weight on his shoulders and he's not just fulfilled the expectations, he's done much better than those expectations.
"He can play for any team in the world with the way that he's playing.
"They are very similar in their knowledge of the game and their understanding of the game - the passing, seeing situations a bit quicker than the rest.
"James is never stressed and Gareth was never stressed. You can see how cool James was with the penalty against Birmingham. He's got all the qualities to be a big player."
Barry will face his former club at the weekend as Villa take on Manchester City in a crunch clash in the race for fourth in the Premier League.
City currently trail Villa by one point having played a game less than the Midlands outfit, as both teams look to gun down Tottenham.
