Villa star rues saleAston Villa star Gareth Barry has praised the emergence of Liverpool midfielder Peter Crouch and regrets the day former manager David O'Leary sold him to Southampton.
He said: "Was it wrong to get rid of Peter Crouch? Yes. When you look at it now, definitely. What he has gone onto achieve is something special.
"He has dropped down a level (Southampton) and bounced back to be a top England striker. It says a great deal about his character.
"I always felt during Crouchy's time at Villa, when he got his chance he did pretty well for us. His goal scoring record wasn't always prolific but his size and his ability caused teams problems.
"It was very unfortunate for us that we let him go.
"I remember he scored twice at Leicester when we won 5-0 and was then left out for the next game. That summed up his time with us."
On the slow start Liverpool have made this season Barry added: "Liverpool have obviously got loads of class players up there that means (Rafael Benitez) can afford to rotate. Whether that is the right thing to do throughout the season is his decision.
"I am not sure whether it will be. For a team like us, a settled team helps us and does make it easier when we go out onto the pitch."
"We have gone away to big teams this season and taken big points off Arsenal and Chelsea. Liverpool will be no different in terms of being a big test for us.
"They will be wanting to win because they have had a bit of an indifferent start so it might make it a bit tougher."
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