Hopeful Pearce banks on Gabriel to step up the pace

Stuart Pearce is confident that Gabriel Agbonlahor will inspire his England under-21 team to victory against Wales tonight and earn a place at next year's European Championships in Sweden.

The winger will be playing on his Villa Park ground as England take a 3-2 lead into the second leg of their European Championship play-off.

Agbonlahor scored the winner in Cardiff and Under-21 boss Pearce has tipped the Villa striker to follow Arsenal's Theo Walcott into Fabio Capello's senior squad on a regular basis.

"Agbonlahor gives us a cutting edge in attack with his pace and power," said Pearce.

"He's a major threat at this level and he's a major threat in the Premier League.

"He is one of the big driving forces behind Aston Villa when they do well. I think he can get even better.

"If you look at what Theo did against Croatia and maybe on Saturday against Kazakhstan, Gabi's got the same blistering pace. At international level, that is a fantastic commodity to have.

"But everybody in our camp wants to put a show on and get to the finals of a major tournament."

Sadly, less than 15,000 tickets had been sold for the match yesterday despite England being unbeaten over 90 minutes for 26 games.