Hughes bigs up Barry

Barry won the last of his eight senior caps more than three years ago in a 2-1 friendly victory against Serbia and Montenegro and although consistently snubbed by Sven-Goran Eriksson the feeling is that the 25-year-old is in the form of his life. "Gareth Barry's doing very well down the left," he told the club website, pushing the reluctant Barry into the ring where McClaren awaited, pursing his lips. "He's a massive player at this club. He's settled into the skipper's role very well and he leads by example every game. A few things have been said about an England call-up and I think that would be deserved. If he keeps on going like he has been, he's got to deserve a chance at least."

Den Haag's former Villa goalkeeper Stefan Postma broke his leg in the 2-0 weekend defeat by PSV Eindhoven.