Gareth Barry: Ross Barkley can be as good as Gerrard and Lampard

After a goal-scoring display in his 100th appearance for Everton, Ross Barkley's midfield colleague Gareth Barry is heaping praise on the 21-year-old.

Barry was introduced at halftime Wednesday to anchor the midfield, and the change afforded Barkley more freedom going forward. Barkley fired in the equaliser at Reading to level things just after an hour, before Gerard Deulofeu scored a winner that advances Everton to the fourth round of the League Cup.

Barkley's boss at the Toffees, Roberto Martinez, has previously compared him to Paul Gascoigne, but Barry chose Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard as the youngster's benchmark.

"Ross has got all the potential to become as good as them," Barry said after the 2-1 win.

Barry played many of his 53 England caps alongside at least one of the pair, who both reached over 100 appearances for their country.

"(Barkley's) got everything that they had to match their ability, but the one thing he's gonna need is consistency - performing, scoring goals, assisting on a regular basis, and those two players did that for 10, 12 years in the Premier League, so that's the target for Ross.

"He has got all the ability to go on and be a really top player."

Barry believes Barkley is at a club where he can fulfill his potential.

"He's obviously still young so he's still learning certain parts of the game. He's got the manager here that's really trying to find the right position for him to flourish."

Everton was drawn against Norwich City in the next round of the League Cup. Its next game in the Premier League comes Monday, away at West Bromwich Albion.