Barry stay crucial for O'Neill

Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill has admitted that his top priority this summer will be to keep skipper Gareth Barry at the club and ward off Liverpool's interest in the midfielder.

The 27-year-old England international has been a key performer for Villa this season and O'Neill is desperate to keep his captain.

He told the club's official website: "Obviously trying to keep Gareth Barry at the football club will be the most important thing that we're trying to do in the summer.

"A player of Gareth's undoubted quality and ability would take some replacing, so keeping him at Aston Villa is as important as anything we do in the transfer market.

"I want to really keep the progress going. We want to try and step forward again and we're looking to add that extra quality to the quality that we have. We definitely need more.

"That gets harder as you go along because you're trying to add to a better side. But we're trying to progress and we've got to do it, otherwise we wouldn't just stand still, we'd probably regress.

"There's no standing still in Premier League football because there's always someone looking over your shoulder."