Barry tells Toffees to aim for City heights

GARETH BARRY has urged his ex- Everton side to seize their moment to break into the big time as Manchester City did during his spell at the Etihad.

Carlo Ancelotti’s men host West Brom today having revamped their midfield to bring in Abdoulaye Doucoure from Watford, Allan from Napoli and Colombian superstar James Rodriguez, below, from Real Madrid.

Barry was at City during the early years of Sheikh Mansour’s ownership when the club landed big names but struggled to fulfil their potential. He points to an electrifying speech given by Patrick Vieira to inspire the team before their 2011 FA Cup semi- final. City went on to beat rivals United and saw off Stoke to lift the trophy.

“That speech when Patrick spoke for Wembley did for me,” said Barry. “It changed the mindset of that dressing room. And you know, that year we did go on to win the FA Cup. In the next season, the Premier League came.

“So it is that changing sort of mode where Everton need to move from believing they are this top club to actually competing at that top level.”

Barry, the Premier League appearance record holder with 653, made 155 appearances for Everton and was voted player of the season in 2015- 16.

“Certainly the quality of players that have come in and the way they’ve started, they’re making steps towards that,” he said.

The last of Barry’s four clubs, West Brom, appear to have a tough season ahead, but he has urged Baggies boss Slaven Bilic not to lose heart after losing 3- 0 at home to Leicester. “They’ve got a lot of good young players. There’s no point getting down over one game.”