James Milner has expressed disappointment at Aston Villa losing Gareth Barry to Manchester City but is confident Martin O'Neill will bring in quality signings to replace the England midfielder.

Barry ended a 12-year association with Villa by making a £12million switch to Eastlands even though he had claimed he would seek fresh pastures to play Champions League football. Milner, in the England squad for the World Cup qualifiers with Kazakhstan and Andorra, is a big fan of the 28-year-old and knows Barry's departure will be a big loss for Villa.

But he has faith in the rest of the squad and is backing O'Neill to make significant additions before the new season gets under way in two months' time. Milner told PA Sport: "After last summer, maybe a move was on the cards for Gareth.

"There were things being said in the media three quarters of the way through the year about how we needed Champions League football for him to consider staying.

"It's disappointing for me because you want to play with the best players and he is definitely one of them as he has proven over the last two seasons.

"I think he has improved and is even better than he was before and has moved onto the next level through playing for England. Any club losing a player of his quality and calibre is going to miss him. He was a major player for us. He is a top class player and it's disappointing that he's gone but we've got some top class players and I am sure the manager will bring players in to replace him."