O'Neill wants Agbonlahor goals galore

12th March 2010

Manager Martin O'Neill believes Gabriel Agbonlahor can become a 20-goals-a-season player for Aston Villa as he closes in on his first half century for the club.

Agbonlahor will go into Saturday's Barclays Premier League clash at Stoke on the 49-goal mark after recovering from the stomach upset which ruled him out of the FA Cup clash at Crystal Palace.

O'Neill has challenged the England striker to next aim for a century of goals and believes he can learn from the example of Wayne Rooney in improving his all-round game.

He told Press Association Sport: "Gabby has obviously improved since he was a kid and first came into the Villa side. He has got stronger for a start and his technique is improving.

"When you get to the 22-23 age bracket, you would think that players would maybe not be able to improve their technique anymore. But I think you only have to look at Wayne Rooney. He has said he has started practising heading goals to make himself the complete player and I think there are lessons to be learnt.

"I think he is capable of getting 20 goals (a season). I wouldn't put it past him. Sometimes, you can learn the knack of scoring what you would consider tap-in goals. Little rebounds off keepers, once you have added two or three of those a season to your list of goals, gives you the confidence from being in the six yard box and being comfortable inside the six-yard box."

 O'Neill wants more from Carew
 Agbonlahor set for Villa return
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3:00, Sat 13th Mar
Stoke	v	Aston Villa
7:45, Tue 16th Mar
Wigan	v	Aston Villa
12:45, Sat 20th Mar
Aston Villa	v	Wolverhampton
7:45, Wed 24th Mar
Aston Villa	v	Sunderland
3:00, Sat 27th Mar
Chelsea	v	Aston Villa

2:00, Sun 21st Feb
Aston Villa	0	v	0	Burnley
7:45, Wed 10th Feb
Aston Villa	0	v	0	Man Utd
5:30, Sat 6th Feb
Tottenham	0	v	0	Aston Villa
3:00, Sat 30th Jan
Fulham	0	v	2	Aston Villa
7:45, Wed 27th Jan
Aston Villa	0	v	0	Arsenal