Aston Villa winger Gabriel Agbonlahor has signed a new four-year contract with the Barclays Premiership club.

The England Under-21 player has put pen to paper on an improved deal which will keep him at Villa Park until the summer of 2011.

Agbonlahor only signed a new contract last summer which still had just over two years to run.

But Villa manager Martin O'Neill was keen to reward the player after an impressive first season of regular senior football.

The 20-year-old has started every game this season except the Barclays Premiership match with Fulham at Craven Cottage last month.

Agbonlahor ended a two-and-a-half month goal drought by netting Villa's equaliser in Monday evening's 1-1 home draw with Everton.

His form may have dipped in recent weeks compared to the high standards he set earlier in the campaign but O'Neill regards him as a key player for the future.

O'Neill explained: "Gabby has been superb for us this season.

"Like with any young player he has had the occasional up and down, but overall he has been excellent and the new contract is for a couple more years on top of what he already had left.

"I keep repeating myself but I am sure Gabby would have been more than content with playing maybe 12 to 15 games at the start of the season.

"But he has done remarkably well and until I substituted him at Reading in February he has played every minute of every game.

"There has been the occasional time when I would have liked to rest him but that was not possible because of the lack of numbers.

"But if I had left him out, it would have been no reflection on the way he was playing, just the fact it is a long, hard season."

O'Neill is also hoping to tie up the future of defender Olof Mellberg and midfielder Gavin McCann in the next two weeks.

Meanwhile, McCann's 10th booking of the campaign against Everton means he will miss next Monday's home game with Wigan and the trip to Middlesbrough on April 14.