Mark Hughes has urged Aston Villa fans to welcome Gareth Barry rather than jeer their former captain when he returns to Villa Park.

Barry infuriated Villa fans after moving to Eastlands for £12 million in the offseason after claiming that he would only move to another club that was playing in the Champions League.

Man City are not in any European competition this season, but Barry is adamant that he is now locked in to  being part of City’s vision for long-term success.

Although Hughes is sure that Barry will get the boos at Villa Park, he asked for the supporters to thank the England regular being a loyal servant of the club for a decade.

“I hope Gareth doesn’t get a bad reception,” said Hughes, according to The Daily Mirror. “The service he gave to Aston Villa was exemplary.

“Maybe, instead of trying to take issue with players, fans should thank them for what they did for the club while they were there and acknowledge that more readily.

“Unfortunately that very rarely happens these days. As a player you want good relations with the clubs you played for.

“It’s always preferable to go back to an old club and have people regard you with affection and respect.

“People should accept what Gareth did in terms of his career there. But unfortunately sometimes the small minority have the loudest voices.

“On reflection I think people will understand now why Gareth wanted to make the move here.

“A year before he said he wanted to play in the Champions League. We didn’t have that to offer but we had other things to show him this was the right place for him.

“Villa have real hopes themselves of a top-four finish and went close last year, but I think people can see we may well be in a position to challenge as well.

“From Gareth’s point of view I think he was happy with the decision he made, but it wasn’t an easy decision.

“We gave him an idea of the hopes, we’ve been able to keep the promises we made, for the most part.

“When you’re trying to bring a player to a club, all managers talk about their ambitions for the future. But we’d like to think we can fulfil those ambitions.”

Hughes also shot down suggestions that Barry joined Man City purely for the many.

“People make their own decisions on why players have come here,” said Hughes.

“Whenever a player moves there’s always a financial side involved, but that’s not why players are coming here.

“They’re coming here because they can see what we’re trying to do.”

Former City captain Richard Dunne will also be facing his old club for the first time since departing from Eastlands.

The Irish defender claims that he was driven out of the club by Hughes and was reluctant to leave. The City boss has rubbished the claim, saying that the decision to leave was entirely Dunne’s.

“If Richard wanted to stay he could have stayed by not signing for Villa,” said Hughes.

“Nobody put the pen in his hand. He gave us great service through some difficult times with the club.

“We could have been selfish and kept him here. At the moment we’re in a position where we can’t afford to lose another centre-half to injury.

“I could have protected myself by making sure he stayed, but I couldn’t guarantee him first-team football.

“Out of deference to him and for what he did for the club, I thought it was only fair that we allowed him to speak to Villa and I hope that’s remembered.”

Arsenal midfielder Abou Diaby maintains the Gunners have no intentions of “giving up” on their title ambitions.

While leaders Manchester United, Chelsea and Aston Villa all won their midweek fixtures, both Arsenal and Liverpool could only manage a draw.

However, Diaby feels the manner of the Gunners’ result away at Everton, secured by a goal from in-form Robin van Persie deep into stoppage time, shows Arsene Wenger’s men have the character needed to force themselves back into contention over the remaining 15 games.

Arsenal extended their unbeaten Barclays Premier League run to nine matches, but are now five points behind fourth-placed Villa and eight behind United, who have played a game more.

However, Diaby - whose cross set up van Persie’s dramatic last-gasp equaliser - insists the Gunners have what it takes to close the gap.

“We are not going to let up until the end of the season,” Diaby told the club’s official website, www.arsenal.com.

“We are going to try to get points in every game and won’t give up. We are very focused on our games.

“Of course, Aston Villa have been fantastic and are in front of us, but we are really focused on our job and what is most important is what we are doing on the pitch.”

It was a 13th goal of the season for Dutchman van Persie, who is now Arsenal’s leading scorer.

“Robin’s first touch is unbelievable and that makes a big difference, but we all try to play and give everything in each game and do our best to help the team,” said Diaby.

Wenger, meanwhile, appears to be closing in on his main transfer target, Andrei Arshavin, with a deal for the Russian playmaker now “90% completed”.

With an FA Cup replay at home to Cardiff next Tuesday night following on from the visit of improved West Ham this weekend, Wenger knows he will need to utilise his whole squad - which is thin enough on numbers already because of injuries to key men like captain Cesc Fabregas and England winger Theo Walcott.

He told Arsenal TV Online: “This team is gold. There are up for the battle.

“The unbeaten runs keeps the belief high, and in the final run, that will be important.

“We will see how everybody recovers from this game and then will see what kind of changes we have to make for Saturday.”

Dimitar Berbatov will miss Manchester United’s trip to Aston Villa on Saturday after picking up a hamstring injury.

Berbatov limped out of Bulgaria’s encounter with Serbia, sparking fears United’s record signing had suffered major damage.

However, Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed the 27-year-old has not suffered a tear, although he will also miss Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Villarreal and possibly next weekend’s Manchester derby.

“It is a slight strain rather than a tear, so that is positive news,” said Ferguson.

The United boss also confirmed defender Wes Brown would be out for a “few weeks” after an exploratory ankle operation.

“I would have thought Wes will be out for between four and five weeks, which is disappointing,” he added.

“Fortunately we have plenty of cover at right-back, with Gary Neville, Rafael Da Silva and John O’Shea available to come in.”

Ferguson also revealed Rio Ferdinand was extremely doubtful to face Villa as he is continuing to be troubled by the back injury which ruled him out of last Saturday’s destruction of Stoke plus England’s midweek win over Germany.