Gareth Barry On 9th England Cap

Villa captain Gareth Barry has spoken of his second half appearance in the England team last night during yet more confirmation that Steve McClaren is not up to the job.

Barry said: ‘I’m not too sure whether I’ve done enough to cement my place in the squad for the qualifiers. It’s a big squad and there was a few withdrawals, but I was happy with what I did because I kept it simple and I didn’t let anyone down. It was a proud moment for me – Steve McClaren said at half-time there was going to be one change and there were nine players on the bench so I didn’t think it was going to be me. So it was a bonus for me to get half a game.’

‘It was disappointing not to start because there was a lot of talk about me being left-back. But he’d obviously called me into the squad as a midfielder which is the first time I’ve been in the squad in that position. I felt comfortable playing the left of a three in midfield and I feel that’s probably my best position.’

Barry added on the official site: ‘It was a disappointing result and I would have preferred my recall to have come in a positive game. But it was nice just to be involved again and have half a game for England – it’s better than having a 10-15 minute run out.’