O'NEILL PLAYS DOWN BARRY CHOICE

QPR celebrate Stewart's goal.

Martin O'Neill drew a definitive line under the Gareth Barry transfer saga by naming him as Aston Villa captain in the 1-0 Carling Cup defeat by QPR - but insisted a third-round defeat was more important than the destination of the armband.

Barry, Villa's talisman for so long, endured a difficult summer as he vied for his dream move to Liverpool and it seemed at one stage he had played his last game for the club.

But the transfer never materialised and, after being dropped as skipper in favour of Martin Laursen in the summer, he led the team out once again in a Villa side showing six changes.

And it is the result - courtesy of Damion Stewart's powerfully-headed goal in the 58th minute - that O'Neill was keen to focus on.

"It's nothing. In the scheme of things it's really unimportant," he said of Barry's selection as skipper.

"I'm more disappointed about losing the game so the captaincy is not the thing. I was more than pleased to give it to Gareth and he was more than pleased to get it.

"Martin Laursen is captain of this side and he missed out tonight, Nigel Reo-Coker has led the side in the past and he wasn't in the starting line-up.

"That left Gareth as the obvious choice, and why not?"

Barry, booed by a small section of fans earlier this year, received a warm, if not deafening, ovation from the Villa faithful when he was announced as captain but O'Neill played down any symbolic aspect to his decision.

"He didn't hold a speech or anything like that over it but he was, I'm sure, pretty pleased. He doesn't give much away but I think he was pretty pleased - as anyone who gets the captaincy at this football club should be."

Reflecting on a match where Villa missed a clutch of presentable chances, with Marlon Harewood failing to hit the target with the best of them inside 10 minutes, O'Neill added: "I felt we had enough chances to win this game.

"When the match is in the balance and you don't take your chances there's always a chance you might concede and we did.

"We were beaten in the game but if we had been played off the park it would have been a different issue.

"It's naturally disappointing to go out of the competition and not to be in the hat for the next round is really frustrating."

Victorious QPR boss Iain Dowie was delighted to see his side match - and better - a side he rates as one of the best in the country through hard work and determination.

He said: "We gave it all we had. If we lose, we lose. I can cope with losing to good sides and maybe on another day Villa would have won.

"But it's not as though our goalkeeper had to make two or three world-class saves and that is testament to the effort they gave.

"Our defence was bang on. I have a big sheet in the dressing room saying that we have to deal with set-pieces and we did that very well.

"Not just first phase but second phase too, they (Villa) didn't deal with the second-phase delivery and we got that right."

Dowie praised Villa winger Ashley Young, who was man of the match by some distance despite finishing on the losing side, but also commented on the home side's physical presence.

"Ashley is one of the best wingers in the world," said Dowie.

"He's a top winger and he takes some playing that's for sure. But I picked up their team sheet and...they're a big side at the best of times but they brought in Zat Knight and put Marlon Harewood up front. We're a big side but they are the biggest side on the planet."