Source: SKY_Sports
O'Neill stands by Gabby
Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill has defended Gabriel Agbonlahor despite the striker's current goal drought.[LNB] Agbonlahor has scored just two goals in his last 14 appearances for the club and missed what turned out to be a crucial opportunity in Villa's last home game against Stoke.[LNB]But O'Neill continues to stand by the 22-year-old and is definitely not considering replacing him in the Villa attack.[LNB]"Gabby has been a bit unlucky on one or two occasions," he said.[LNB]"He probably should have scored against Chelsea, when Petr Cech made a save at the right-hand post, and he had a good chance against Stoke towards the end.[LNB]Great"Overall I'm not displeased with him. I think he's done great this season. Like most strikers, of course he thrives on goals and, the more you have, the more confidence you have about things.[LNB]"When he played on his own up front for three months he put an unbelievable amount of energy and determination into that and I thought he improved as a player because of it.[LNB]"The irony is now he's getting a bit more help with another centre-forward beside him, maybe one or two of the chances he feels he should have put away have gone begging.[LNB]"But he'll rectify that and I'm not talking about taking Gabby out of the firing line."[LNB]O'Neill is hoping that some extra firepower will be provided by the return of Norwegian striker John Carew after a lengthy back injury.[LNB]"John is a bit away from proper full fitness but he's getting there after been out for about three months," he added.[LNB]Confidence"That goal against Stoke will have been a major boost of confidence for him. The more players at this stage of the season that we have to choose from, which has been a bit of a problem for us for a while, the better chance we stand."[LNB]Villa are currently fourth in the Premier League but will have to fend off a resurgent Arsenal to qualify for next season's UEFA Champions League.[LNB]O'Neill said: "We have still got 10 games to go and we can bounce back. There will be a lot of twists and turns, a lot of them, before the end of the season.[LNB]"With Manchester United winning the League Cup, then sixth place qualifies you for Europe. With the way we are going, if we pick up some more points in the next week or two, then we can secure that for a start.[LNB]"If we achieve that, then we can try and push on from there. Those are our goals at this minute.[LNB]"We have a number of games to try to win, we are going to try to stick with it. Am I still confident about finishing in the top four? We will still be there or thereabouts at the end."[LNB]
