The England midfielder, glowing in the aftermath of the headline grabbing 4-2 win at Stamford Bridge, is relishing the prospect of the race for fourth place becoming even more intense.
And he is sure that the confidence gained from humbling the leaders on their own patch will serve the Blues well.
“Everyone was looking for us to fail again on Saturday, but we managed to turn it around and get a bonus three points which not many people expected,” he declared.
“Now hopefully we can go on and finish the season strongly. There was a lot of talk before the game about how one match can suddenly change your season, and we saw Chelsea as an opportunity.
We will only have ourselves to blame if we can’t come off the back of a result like this and go into the next games with confidence. It has set up nicely for us to finish the season strongly
...Gareth Barry
Barry said it would be disappointing if the Blues don’t nail down the fourth Champions League slot especially as Villa and Spurs, two of the biggest rivals for fourth, still have to visit a City of Manchester Stadium where City are undefeated this season.
“The main aim was always to get into the Champions League. That’s why I joined the club,” stressed Barry who is now away on England duty.
“But it’s easy to talk about that after a great win at Chelsea. There is still a lot of hard work, and some tough games, and a lot of teams vying for that fourth spot. We have to make it hard for them.”
Spirit will pay a big part in any end of season charge and Barry was quick to extinguish any notion that all is not well behind the scenes.
“Everyone is working hard in training,” he said. “We are all winners and talk of people being unhappy is out of proportion.
