GABBY Agbonlahor has won praise from Alex McLeish for adapting his game to thrive in the same strikeforce as Darren Bent.

McLeish was warned the two England strikers could not play together when he took over in the Villa Park hotseat two months ago.

But the manager has been impressed with Agbonlahor’s displays on the left side of his supporting attacking trio with Emile Heskey and Charles N’Zogbia playing behind Bent.

“The studying I’ve done of Agbonlahor over the years was that he is an explosive, exciting striker,” said McLeish.

“When I came to the club, it was a case of ‘How do I get this guy into the same team as Bent?’ and ‘Can they play together?’

“Some people told me they cannot, but certainly in the performances where he has played from the wider area, where we’ve asked him to go in and be the second striker, he is flourishing.

“Sometimes players realise it might be the only way of getting into the team. He might have felt ‘Do I have to change my thoughts here rather than being understudy to Darren or can we play together?’”

Agbonlahor tired towards the end of Saturday’s draw with Wolves with McLeish adding: “When you’re asking a guy to sprint 100 times in a game and use that explosive speed, then the energy they use up is enormous.”