GARETH Barry insists that he is in the right frame of mind for England's crunch World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Croatia, despite his summer of transfer turmoil.
The Aston Villa midfielder looked on the verge of an £18 million move to Liverpool to satisfy his thirst for Champions League football, but that ambition was shattered when the Reds would not meet Villa's valuation of the 27-year-old player and ha
d four bids rejected.
England coach Fabio Capello felt Barry's performance was affected by the on-off nature of the deal during the recent friendly international with the Czech Republic at Wembley.
But Barry issued a statement ten days ago pledging his future to Villa and has now turned his attention fully to England's games in Barcelona tomorrow and Zagreb on Wednesday. "I feel totally focused and mentally ready for these two games ahead. Of course, it was a difficult summer for myself," Barry said. "It is the first time I've really experienced anything like that in my career, the first transfer I've been involved in after being at Villa more than ten years, but that is all in the past now.
"That is why I felt it was important I didn't wait until the last minute of the transfer window to make a statement which let everyone know where I was going to be.
"I made it ten days ago to try and end all the speculation and also to let everyone know my mind is focused on playing for Villa and now, more importantly, focusing on the upcoming games for England."
Barry was part of the England side beaten 3-2 by Croatia at Wembley in October which ended their hopes of qualifying for the Euro 2008 finals.
He knows it is important to remember the pain of that occasion and ensure England make a positive start to their bid to reach the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
"It is important that hurt from the Croatia game stays in the players' minds a little bit, and that we learn from that," Barry explained. "I can only speak for myself in saying we are professional people trying to win a game of football and, whether it is club or country, there is a lot of pain when you are on the losing side.
"Those games against the likes of Russia and Croatia last season were really high-profile matches with so much at stake, and to lose those hurt me a lot and stuck with me for a while."
With his close friend Steven Gerrard ruled out after undergoing surgery, Barry is likely to partner Frank Lampard in the centre of midfield.
The full article contains 455 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
