• Premier League

Barry: Tevez unaffected by recent arrest

Gareth Barry insists Manchester City team-mate Carlos Tevez has been unperturbed by his latest off-field dramas after being arrested for driving while disqualified last week.

Tevez, 29, scored a hat-trick in City's 5-0 FA Cup win over Barnsley on Saturday, allaying fears that his form would be halted while he deals with the authorities.

Contractual issues last season led Tevez to move to Argentina for a number of months, perhaps making him more resilient, but Barry believes it is simply part of the striker's character.

"It takes a lot to take Carlos' mind off football and get him agitated," Barry said. "If you had seen him at training this week, it's as though he has got no problems away from the pitch.

"Nothing really fazes him. In general, if a football player has problems off the pitch the best place to be to get rid of them is on it, either in training or in the stadium. It can certainly help take your mind off them for 90 minutes anyway."

Barry and Tevez are hoping to enter contract negotiations in the coming months with their deals at the Etihad set to expire at the end of next season. But the England midfielder has no plans to leave City.

"I want to finish my career still challenging for trophies and this is the perfect club at which to do that," Barry said. "I am very settled here but at the same time I have got a lot of respect for the people who have come in.

"They are going to have a good long look at the way they want to go and the players they want to go with it so as individuals we need to work hard when we get the chance.

"Obviously they are the sort of conversations the lads have now and again. We've got the rest of this season and then one more year and there have been changes upstairs.

"But everyone is pretty relaxed because they will take time to have a look at things, the way they are going to go in the future. The players are pretty comfortable with that too but it is important we keep performing on the pitch."

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