[Mighty T.A.L.]

Barry aims to keep place

Gareth Barry is hoping he will retain his England place for next month's Euro 2008 qualifiers against Estonia and Russia.

In the absence of injured duo Owen Hargreaves and Frank Lampard, Barry was given the nod to partner Steven Gerrard in the 3-0 wins over Israel and Russia.

The Aston Villa captain impressed in both matches and he feels he has presented England coach Steve McClaren with a dilemma ahead of October's double-header.

"I have given the manager another option and that's what international teams need," Barry told Sky Sports News.

"I look forward to meeting up again, hopefully."

More confident

It was the first time Barry had completed consecutive competitive matches for England and he was happy with his burgeoning partnership with Gerrard.

He added: "It goes to show that I did not stop giving up. It's been a long time and I had never played back-to-back qualifiers for 90 minutes.

"It's been a different week for me. I enjoyed playing in there with Steve, it's gone very well."

England are now in second spot in Group E and Barry feels the team will head to Russia next month full of confidence.

Barry continued: "The league was a bit upside down for us, but it's looking a lot prettier now.

"There are tough games to go, but we will go into those games more confident."

Skysports