Gareth Barry admits he's been surprised by how quickly Aston Villa teammate Gabby Agbonlahor has established himself in the Premiership.

Barry said: "Gabby has surprised me a bit. He's probably surprised a few people because his whole game is coming together a lot more quickly than I thought it would. His pace and directness has always really frightened defenders. But now he is picking up other pieces, scoring lots of goals and improving all the time.

"With the system we play, we have mentioned about a couple of us giving him more support and getting around him. But he did a lot on his own again against Bolton. He worked hard and deserved his two goals.

"It did him no harm playing for his country, either. He took a lot on board and came back with confidence.

"But he's pretty laid-back and he won't be thinking about what he's done. He'll be enjoying his football. I've not played in as exciting a team as this one. You can see the reaction of the fans as soon as the boys up front get the ball.

"With their pace, everyone's off their seat."