Steven Gerrard intensified the ill-feeling between Aston Villa and Liverpool last night by urging Gareth Barry, his England teammate, to “better his career” by moving to Anfield. Martin O’Neill, the Villa manager, has already expressed unhappiness at Liverpool’s public pursuit of Barry and was understood to be furious upon learning of the remarks made by Gerrard while on England duty in the Caribbean.

As reports emerged that Fabio Capello, the England manager, is giving serious consideration to restoring David Beckham as captain, albeit for one night only, Gerrard’s comments further inflamed the situation over Barry, also touted as a contender for the captaincy against Trinidad & Tobago tomorrow night.

Capello was said to be weighing up the idea of Beckham as captain, aware that cynics will call it a publicity stunt in advance of the politically driven friendly.

Barry informed Villa of his wish to join Liverpool at a meeting a fortnight ago, but O’Neill continues to cling to the hope that he and Randy Lerner, the club’s owner, can persuade him to stay at Villa Park when the player returns early next week from Port of Spain.

Even if Barry demands a move, Villa maintain that they will not sell, having rejected another informal offer from Liverpool over the past ten days, though the expectation remains that a deal will be done. O’Neill has been critical of Liverpool’s approach to negotiations, accusing Rafael BenÍtez of leaking details of a private conversation in which they first discussed a possible deal in late April, and the manager was said by sources at Villa to be deeply unhappy last night at learning of Gerrard’s comments.

The Liverpool player began by saying that he was looking forward to playing alongside Barry in midfield against Trinidad & Tobago tomorrow, but he needed little encouragement to say that he was “desperate” for his England teammate to move to Anfield, a switch that, he said, would better his career.

“I know all about Gareth,” Gerrard said. “We’re good friends off the pitch and I’m desperate for us to sign him. Gareth would certainly help Liverpool be a better team next season.”

When it was put to Gerrard that Barry might find it hard to leave Villa, just as the Liverpool captain twice agonised over potential moves to Chelsea, he replied: “I'm sure he will. He has been a fantastic servant, but sometimes opportunities come along in football where you can better your career. Gareth is 27 now and needs to play Champions League football. In my opinion he can do that.” In the absence of Owen Hargreaves and Frank Lampard, who have been excused the trip to Trinidad after their exertions in the Champions League final, Gerrard and Barry are expected to play alongside each other in central midfield for England tomorrow.

It remains to be seen, though, who will captain the team. Fabio Capello had been expected to continue his auditions by asking Barry to lead the side, but there were indications last night that he would not, suggesting that the manager would look again to Rio Ferdinand, the long-term favourite for the role, or Gerrard.

With only Ferdinand available of the Manchester United and Chelsea players who contested the Champions League final in Moscow ten days ago, Capello will take the opportunity to experiment and seems certain to give first senior caps to Joe Hart, the 21-year-old Manchester City goalkeeper, Dean Ashton and Gabriel Agbonhalor at some point over the course of the evening. Phil Jagielka, Stephen Warnock, David Wheater and Tom Huddlestone could also make appearances, depending on how experimental Capello's line-up becomes.

Gerrard, who played in an unfamiliar role on the left-hand side against the United States on Wednesday, is expected to return to central midfield tomorrow and made no secret of his desire to stay there in the long term.

“You know my favourite role,” he said. “I don't need to go on record again to say what that is. But I'm mature enough to adapt to different roles. I'm sure this manager will be ruthless if you don't meet his standards. The important thing is to be in the starting line-up and part of this team, because I believe we will improve and get to the next level.”