Aston Villa star James Milner has thanked former team-mate Gareth Barry for helping him develop his game.
Villa star praises former team-mate
Aston Villa star James Milner has thanked ex-team-mate Gareth Barry for helping him develop his game.
The former Newcastle and Leeds man impressed in the middle of the park for Villa in their weekend win over Hull City.
The winger switched from his usual outside position and still pulled the strings for Martin O'Neill's team in a resounding success.
Milner insists he learned a lot from ex-Villa captain Barry, who departed for ambitious Manchester City last summer.
Although the 23-year-old expects to return out wide for Villa's upcoming games, he would have no qualms filling in again if needed by O'Neill.
Learned
"I have learned massively from watching Gareth," Milner said. "You've got to learn all the time from the top players and Gareth was a top player.
"With England, there are Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard and there aren't many better players in the world to learn from there.
"I've played in central midfield for Leeds once or twice and for Newcastle on occasions. If the manager decides to keep it that way then I'm happy playing there. You can get involved in the game.
"Sometimes if you're out wide you're waiting for other people to bring you in, but in the middle you can go in and start things yourself so it's a bit different."
