By Paul Brown

Curtis Davies believes Gabby Agbonlahor will sparkle with Villa this season - because of the giant strides he has made in his overall game.

Davies insists Agbonlahor is a nightmare to play against because of his combination of pace and power.

The 25-year-old thinks the work "man mountain" Agbonlahor put in to bulk up aided his game greatly, enabling him to both play with a partner or up front by himself.

Davies also believes Agbonlahor will be a vital cog in the England set-up for years to come too.

He said: "I train with Gabby every day. He came back at the start of last season and he was strong. He came back like a new man. He was just a man mountain but he was still as fast as ever.

"He's managed to maintain that and build it into his game without losing that valuable pace. He is a real handful.

"Before, you'd go shoulder to shoulder with Gabby in training and fancy your chances but now he's a big strong lad. He's fast too and knows where the goal is.

"I am glad to be training with him rather than playing against him, put it that way.

"If you've got someone with that pace running at you every five minutes, you just don't want that.

"When he's on top form, I think he can be unplayable.

"He's done really well for us - brilliantly - and I think he's done well to develop into an international footballer with England. Hopefully he can push on now.

"Emile has obviously retired and I don't know what's happening with the other strikers. I'd like to think Gabby can be next in line.

"But Gabby can do it, no question. He's a quality striker and I think he will star for England.

"Gabby is different to anything we have in the international set-up.

"If he was just fast, he'd be compared to Theo [Walcott]. But Gabby can be a target striker too - he can play up front by himself.

"If you're talking about someone who could play upfront with Wayne Rooney, I think it could be Gabby.

"The main thing for Gabby is keeping up his consistency. If he does that, he'll be impossible to keep out of the squad."