Martin O'Neill has admitted he cannot afford to give rising Aston Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor a break from action because he has become too important a player.

Agbonlahor is experiencing his first taste of prolonged first-team action this season and has been a key performer in Villa's impressive set of results which has lifted them into the Barclays Premiership top six.

In an ideal world O'Neill would like to rest the England Under-21 player, who has been praised by Steve McClaren for his form this season.

But the impact he has had at Villa Park - plus Villa's small squad - means Agbonlahor cannot be given a breather by the Northern Irishman.

O'Neill said: "Gabby is as willing as the day is long and he has got ability.

"Quite simply, we can't afford for Gabby to not be in the side. If he was playing in a bigger squad, I would definitely think about resting him - but we can't.

"But if he goes out of the side, and we lose a couple of other players as well, then we are not strong enough."

O'Neill has been impressed with the way Agbonlahor has maintained his high level of performance.

He said: "Often it is the case that young players come into the side and then go out of the team — but Gabby has carried on.

"If you had said to him at the start of this season or the back end of last season that he would play this amount of games in the whole season, he would probably have taken it."