KEEPING BARRY TOP PRIORITY - O'NEILL

Barry: In-demand

Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill has admitted keeping Gareth Barry will be his top priority this summer.

Liverpool are leading the race for Villa captain Barry and have made a bid for the England international.

O'Neill rejected Liverpool's offer and he remains determined to keep the 27-year-old at the club to build his side around Barry.

"Obviously trying to keep Gareth Barry at the football club will be the most important thing that we're trying to do in the summertime," O'Neill told the club's official website.

"A player of Gareth's undoubted quality and ability would take some replacing, so keeping him at Aston Villa is as important as anything we do in the transfer market."

O'Neill admits the club need to bring in reinforcements if they are to continue to progress under the former Celtic manager.

"I want to really keep the progress going. We want to try and step forward again and we're looking to add that extra quality to the quality that we have. We definitely need more," added O'Neill

"That gets harder as you go along because you're trying to add to a better side. But we're trying to progress and we have got to do it, otherwise we wouldn't just stand still, we would probably regress.

"There's no standing still in Premier League football because there's always someone looking over your shoulder.

"Look at the sides next season that have got this driving ambition. Tottenham Hotspur have just spent £16-18million on a young kid who has never sampled the Premier League! He looks a really good player.

"So they're showing their intentions. Newcastle will want to compete and Sunderland are averaging 43,000 gates. So it's going to be even tougher next year.

"Being back in the Premier League and having had two seasons to look at it, I believe that for us now to compete we have to add to what we've got."