Gareth Barry proud of Aston Villa performance

Nov 29 2007 By Bill Howell, Birmingham Mail

GARETH Barry was justly proud of Villa's performance last night.

He said: "That's three away games and three away wins and that doesn't come around too often in the Premier League.

"Even the top teams struggle to manage that. Our confidence is sky high. I'm not sure what the secret is.

"If you saw the first half-hour last night, Blackburn were the better team but we weathered the storm, took our chance and then when we got the second the confidence grew and I thought we finished the game off nicely."

Martin O'Neill was delighted with his skipper.

He said: "I thought Barry was back to his best - he was majestic. And Stiliyan Petrov was really excellent for us. I couldn't be more pleased."

One downside for Villa was the sight of Gabby Agbonlahor leaving the pitch late on with a gashed ankle, that could make him a doubt for Arsenal.

"Gabby's a concern at this minute because he got a stud through his ankle and had some stitches," said O'Neill. "We're having a look at it and there's a bit of damage done underneath the skin and a bit of swelling around the joint."