Ross Barkley's Everton team-mate Gareth Barry has backed the youngster to emulate the likes of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard in the near future.

The highly-rated midfielder has hit the ground running this season, scoring his third goal of the campaign during this week's 2-1 League Cup win against Reading.




The goals have also been complimented by four assists he has provided for his team-mates.

Barry, who has seen all unfold from close quarters, feels that the young midfielder is a player with a lot of talent and has the potential to become great, even holding the possibility of emulating the likes of Gerrard and Lampard, two of England's midfield greats.
 


"Ross has got all the potential to become as good as them", Barry told the FA's official website.

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Having watched both the former Liverpool skipper and the Chelsea great closely while playing for England, Barry feels that the one area where Barkley needs improvement is consistency; that is performing, scoring goals and assisting his team-mates.

"He's got everything that they had, to match their ability, but the one thing he's going to need is consistency: performing, scoring goals and assisting on a regular basis.

"Those two players had done that for 10, 12 years in the Premier League, so that's the target.

"He's obviously still young so he's still learning certain parts of the game, but Ross has got all the ability to go on and be a really top player."