If strikers wished for one thing to add to goals that is the crucial part of their role, then the word pace would be at the top of the list. Gabriel Agbonlahor as pace in abundance, but does the striker have what it takes to leave the world’s best defenders with twisted blood?

Gabby, as he is known by fans and people associated with his club Aston Villa, looks like he is being pushed by manager Martin O’Neill to be a player of a standard that perhaps he may never reach. With the attention the player has received for some of his performances over the last year, it might have enticed O’Neill to push him too far ahead of his natural level. His technical ability is probably what he is urging him to go and improve to add an all-round game that a striker needs.

In putting certain demands on Agbonlahor, he in turn will perform like a player who has extra weight on his shoulders. Fatigue could be a factor. He made 48 appearances for Villa last season, and with the majority of those coming as a lone striker, that could have taken its toll. Handling a similar workload again has been testing, and consequently he is not scoring as much goals as he would like to. If O’Neill is putting pressure on his striker to contribute more in games then there is nothing wrong with that to a certain extent.

In this instance it is all about attitude. O’Neill is thinking how much he can improve his player, whilst Agbonlahor must be level-headed and not get caught up in any publicity that could come his way. Whether or not O’Neill is asking a lot of him at Villa’s training ground is a matter of speculation, but Agbonlahor should be concentrating on getting better regardless of whatever is going on around him. Age is something that is taken for granted in football, and it must be remembered that Agbonlahor is still learning.

Villa have so many promising youngsters with huge potential, like Ashley Young and James Milner, that O’Neill seems to have identified Agbonlahor as the ‘senior’ man out of the trio of names. This might be to do with the fact that Agbonlahor has been at Villa Park longer then the other young players so O’Neill is expecting more. At 23 years of age, the forward has won the trust of the manager because of his inclusion in big matches and winning more starts than his fellow strike partners.

Emile Heskey and John Carew are both capable but O’Neill may be regretting not signing a striker in the January transfer window. By turning the main responsibilities to Agbonlahor for goals shows the expectation levels he has got of him. A team is only as good as its strikers; ultimately they score the vast majority of the goals as a unit. Agbonlahor’s performances over the next four months will determine how Villa finish in the race for fourth place.

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