Gareth Barry pride at joining Aston Villa's 400 club
VILLA midfielder Gareth Barry chalked up another milestone with his 400th appearance in claret and blue last night – an achievement few fans would have expected just a month ago.
After a prolonged summer of turmoil with the on-off transfer saga with Liverpool, Barry secured his membership of the 400 club and duly celebrated with a goal as Villa secured a 3-1 victory over Bulgarian side Litex Lovech in their first-round first-leg UEFA Cup clash.
The 27-year-old England international now joins a select band of players to have made such a number of appearances for the club, although even Barry still has a way to go match the all-time appearances of record-holder, Charlie Aitken, who played 541 games for the club over a record 17 seasons between 1959 and May 1976.
Barry said: “It was a nice way to mark my 400th game. Someone said to me before the game that it was my 400th but I wasn’t so sure. I think there may even have been one or two missed off!
“But it’s a proud achievement. I don’t know how many other players have done it for Villa so it is something to look back on and to be proud.”
Barry joined Nigel Reo-Coker and Stiliyan Petrov on the scoreheet last night, although the team had it far from easy on a pitch sodden from days of heavy rain over the northern-eastern European region.
Litex – Bulgaria’s domestic cup holders – had gone a goal ahead after only 10 minutes through captain Ivelin Popov before Villa finally got a handle on the game.
Barry said: “The pitch was heavier than it looked. It looked fine on top but they had clearly had a lot of rain and it was heavier than we would have normally expected at this time of year.”
Speaking of his own battle to regain fitness and form after a summer dominated by talk of his future, Barry insisted he was now back at the top of his game.
He said: “It’s difficult when your pre-season is disrupted but I have played a fair bit now and I feel I am up to speed.
“We have got a lot of matches coming up and we seem to be playing a lot.
“I think most people know I want to be involved in every match that I can.
“It’s up to the manager if he feels I am not up to it and at the moment I am coping okay.”
But far from complaining about the heavy fixture load facing his side, who are midway through a run of four matches in just nine days, Barry said: “That’s what we are in it for.
“If you are playing a lot of games you are being successful.
“As far as I am concerned, the UEFA Cup is definitely a competition we want to be involved with.
“I think you benefit from the experience of playing against foreign opposition.
“It is not a regret but I would have liked to have played in the competition more with Villa because I think it does help your development as a player.
“People such as Craig Gardner will be learning all the time.
“It is tough sometimes because you are away from your families for some time but if that is what comes with success, we won’t be moaning about it.”
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