Gabby wary of opponents

Villa forward Gabby Agbonlahor has warned England's under-21s they should be 'scared' of Wales ahead of the crunch play-off at Villa Park.

Stuart Pearce's men hold a slender 3-2 advantage from Friday's away leg at Ninian Park courtesy of Agbonlahor's decisive goal.

The in-form Villa star has vowed to be at his best in front of home support and feels England will start as favourites.

He does admit their opponents did plenty to suggest they could hijack England's quest to reach Sweden next June.

He said: "They all showed they can play so I think we need to be scared of all of them, really. They started brightly, passed the ball very well and caused us a lot of problems, but we started to play our football in the second half.

"I think everyone will want to be at their best tonight to try and get a win. I think we're favourites. We were favourites before the first leg and we won, and playing at home should be a big advantage."

Pearce, whose only injury worry is Villa midfielder Craig Gardner (hamstring), has backed his team to put on a thriller at the Villa.

The coach said: "We feel as though we want to put on a show. The squad is fiercely proud of the record we have at the moment and we want to win the match.

"The crowd are absolutely vital wherever you go. You need to turn those people to your advantage. I've always been a believer that the players set the fans off."

Pearce's squad have used both Villa Park and Villa's training ground Bodymoor as part of their preparations. He reckons it is impossible not to be impressed by the club's state-of-the-art facilities.

He said: "I said to Gabby 'this isn't a bad place to earn a living!' It's better than Brent Council where I was, and that's no disrespect to them. It's a great place to come and work.

"It's a fantastic training ground, the Villa Park pitch is unbelievable, we'll have a good atmosphere and I think everyone throughout the squad – especially Gabby as this is his own club – is looking forward to this game."