Barry - Lauren not to blame
Aston Villa midfielder Gareth Barry has cleared Arsenal defender Lauren of any blame for the challenge which has left him with probable knee ligament damage and insisted: “The challenge wasn’t malicious.”
Barry was forced out of the action in Saturday’s Premiership clash at Highbury after just six minutes of Villa’s 3-1 defeat and is awaiting the results of a scan to determine the full extent of the damage.
Villa manager David O’Leary had been unhappy with Lauren’s tackle on the former England Under-21 captain, who rates himself doubtful for Saturday’s home clash with Fulham.
But Barry was today in a more charitable mood and said: “It was a 50-50 ball - one I knew that I could get and one that Lauren probably felt the same about.
“Yes, the tackle was late and he caught me across the left knee and at the time it felt extremely painful.
“But I don’t think it was the sort of tackle that was done maliciously and I think it was more instinctive than anything.”
O’Leary, who is poised to sign a new three-and-a-half year contract, can ill afford to be without Barry for a lengthy period of time given the smallness of his squad.
He has only five players competing for four places when everyone is fit but Barry is reasonably optimistic that he will return sooner rather than later.
He said: “It is still very sore and I am probably going to struggle to play this weekend but I don’t think it is too bad, although we will know more once we get the scan results.”
