Aston Villa is the right place for Gabby Agbonlahor, says England U21 boss Stuart Pearce.

"Villa are definitely on the up since Martin took over, there's no doubt about that in my mind,'' said Pearce.

"They are going from strength to strength and threatening the big boys. From Gabby there is still more to come and the more Martin coaches him and the more we have him with the Under-21s the more of an improvement we will get from him.

"Physically, he is a very strong boy. If you look again at the goal he scored against Portugal, he came under a very strong challenge that he held off before he rolled the ball past the goalkeeper.

"He will get a touch stronger, I'm sure, and he is a major threat at this level. I think he will become a bigger threat and I think there is senior football in him as well.

"If you look at Theo and see what his pace did for the seniors against Croatia, and on Saturday, Gabby has that same characteristic about him. At international level that is a fantastic commodity to have."