Barry looking to push on

Villa midfielder confident of sustaining challenge

Last updated: 2nd January 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Barry looking to push on

Barry: Confident

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Gareth Barry has challenged his Aston Villa team-mates to build on their excellent start to the season.

Villa have climbed to fourth in the Premier League table on the back of an eight-match unbeaten run, and they currently lead Arsenal by three points.

Barry believes Villa have learned how to win even when they are not firing on all cylinders, and are now in a 'perfect position' to maintain their push for a UEFA Champions League spot.

He said: "It has been a fantastic season so far and it is all set up nicely now. We are in the perfect position to only look above us really and not worry about who is below us.

"We will see if we can match what we have done in the first half of the season. We have to keep working hard, hope the players can keep their form and also stay away from injuries."

Steel

Barry was part of the Villa side which topped the Premier League a decade ago under John Gregory before they faded during the second part of the season and finally finished sixth.

However, the England midfielder is confident that Villa are better equipped this time to sustain a challenge until May.

The 27-year-old said: "There are similarities with 10 years ago but that season we got off to an unbelievable start, not losing for a long time, whereas this time we've built very slowly.

"I think that's probably going to help us a bit more and, this season, I think we're more capable of holding on.

"Steel is what you need. All the top teams have it. The Manchester Uniteds and Chelseas don't always play well and yet seem to come away with single-goal wins and score late goals.

"You definitely need that knack of winning games if you're going to challenge for things.

"This season, we've had it a bit more than in previous seasons. We know some days your luck is just not going to be there but, if we can maintain things more often than not, then we'll be delighted."