Barry: We will qualify for Europe February 15 2008
Gareth Barry believes Aston Villa will qualify automatically for Europe for the first time in almost a decade.
The Villans have applied to enter the Intertoto Cup as a precaution against them failing to secure a Champions League or UEFA Cup spot via a high Premier League placing.
But the club's captain is aware that qualifying automatically is a realistic proposition if they can emulate the end of the 2007/08 campaign when they were unbeaten for the final nine matches.
The England midfielder said: "There is no doubt that if we can put together a finish like we did last season, then the European spots are definitely up there for grabs.
"We had a great run to finish off, after we had been hovering just above the bottom part of the table, and that gave us a lot of confidence.
"Hopefully we can repeat that and, if we do, we will finish high up the table."
Barry is happy with the progress that has been made under Irishman Martin O'Neill during the past 18 months.
He said: "From day one we were looking for improvement and, although last season people could say it was a bit of an average season, we definitely made a few steps forward on and off the pitch.
"The supporters have started coming back and this season the attendances have been very high, around 40,000 for most of the games.
"We went from 16th place in the Premier League to 11th last season and now we are being talked about for Europe which is what we are pushing for.
"Certainly we are making the strides forward the manager told me he was confident we could achieve but it is important we try and keep it going."
The 26-year-old admitted even his batteries have been recharged after Villa's break in Spain after he felt tired in recent matches.
He said: "I was a bit worried about the Newcastle game last weekend because I didn't expect to play as long as I did for England on the Wednesday beforehand against Switzerland.
"I had felt tired for the last two games so I looked forward to this rest. It was a nice feeling in your mind to know that you put your all into the Newcastle game knowing we had the break afterwards.
"It was a busy Christmas period and there have been a lot of games. A two-week break isn't the end of the world and the manager has done a bit of work with us in Spain."