Aston Villa’s wantaway skipper Gareth Barry has declared himself “ready, willing and able” to play in Thursday's Uefa Cup second qualifying round match even though his participation could end his dream move to Liverpool because he would be cup-tied.
Barry’s involvement against Icelandic side HF Hafnarfjordur would mean he would not be allowed to feature in the Champions League until at least January should his protracted transfer to Liverpool in an £18 million deal ever materialise.
With just 17 days of the summer transfer window remaining, Barry travelled to Iceland with his Villa team-mates for training at the Laugardalsvollur Stadium ahead of the game which kicks off at 6.50pm.
Martin O’Neill admits his skipper’s future is still very much up in the air with no new offer forthcoming from Liverpol and with owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett recently intimating they will not part with the cash for the England midfielder despite the wishes of manager Rafa Benitez.
The Villa boss said: “I was at a League Managers’ Association meeting in London and had to go down quite early therefore I did not get a chance to speak to Gareth which I would have done.
“But John Robertson and Steve Walford (Villa’s coaches) spoke to him just after training and he was ready, willing and able to play which is great.
“Last week I think he felt the Liverpool move was going to take place but now we dont know what is happening. I don’t think anyone is in any spot of triumphalist mood but he wants to play and that is exceptionally good news.
“Our particular stance has never changed. He is a class player and they are hard to come by. We would prefer him to be playing for Aston Villa than against us.”
