Stiliyan Petrov has pleaded for Aston Villa midfielder Gareth Barry to be given time to decide on his future.

Barry came close to joining Liverpool last summer only for the Reds to stall on meeting Villa's asking price of around £18 million but a year late speculation has increased once more, with just one year remaining of his contract.

Villa boss Martin O'Neill does not expect Barry to make a decision until after the World Cup qualifiers with Kazhakstan on Saturday and Andorra on June 10, and Petrov is urging for Barry to be put under no pressure on making his mind up.

The Bulgaria international told PA Sport: "I have said many times before just how important Gareth Barry is to this football club.

"We should give him time to enjoy things because he had a hard time last summer with all the speculation about Liverpool. What he did, in coming back to Villa again and making the fans happy again with his performances this last season, was great.

"Of course, we all want him to stay but I believe there should be no pressure put on him to make a decision. He will make the decision in his own time."