Villa backroom staff battle to get Barry back

Jan 22 2008 By Bill Howell, Birmingham Mail

VILLA'S medical staff are doing all they can to get influential skipper Gareth Barry back in action.

Barry's fitness will be assessed closer to the weekend before Martin O'Neill knows whether the midfielder will be fit to face Blackburn on Saturday.

Barry missed last night's draw at Liverpool after injuring his hip in training last week.

"It's hard to say how long he will be out for," said O'Neill.

"When he first did it, he started to feel better and it wasn't so bad after the first day. But it's been slow since that.

"We'll see how he is, and listen, he's got to be really sore to miss a game.

"We're doing everything possible to try to get him fit."

O'Neill admitted Barry's drive was missed at Liverpool. "He has been fantastic. Gareth was a major, massive loss to us," he said.

"He's had a wonderful season and played really great, but sometimes it happens.

"And for us to go there without him speaks volumes for the rest of the squad."