Last Updated: Mon, 24 Mar 2008 10:57
Gareth Barry is adamant Aston Villa can secure a European place despite their damaging 1-0 home defeat to Sunderland on Saturday.
The Villa midfielder and skipper, who will turn his attentions to impressing for England on Wednesday as Fabio Capello's men travel to Paris for a friendly against France, was left disappointed after Martin O'Neill's men slipped eight points off the only UEFA Cup spot up for grabs courtesy of a shock home defeat to Roy Keane's struggling Black Cats.
However Barry is still confident Villa can catch fifth-placed Everton, while the club will get another chance of reaching Europe through the Intertoto Cup so there is still plenty to play for.
He told the Express & Star: "We feel we can still qualify for Europe - the players and manager know it only takes one game to turn it around.
"I know everyone's looking at Manchester United and thinking it's the worst possible game but we'll go there with nothing to lose and maybe that's a better game for us than a home match against a team battling for survival.
"On paper, games against these teams lower than us should be winnable and that's why we're disappointed.
"It was a big blow. We were looking to bounce back after a couple of disappointing performances but we've got to look at ourselves because that's three games in a row we've dropped points in now.
Saturday was a chance to bounce back but it wasn't as if Sunderland sat back - give them credit, they battled hard, waited for their one chance and took it.
"We'll fight right to the end - eight points off fifth place with seven games left is a big margin and it will take some doing.
"But we've applied for the Intertoto and we'll try to finish as high as possible because there are other teams that have applied too and there's only one space available."