Aston Villa

Steve Bruce opens door for Gabriel Agbonlahor return

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 13 October 2016

New Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce insists that former club captain Gabby Agbonlahor will have a clean slate following his arrival at Villa Park.

Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce has opened the door for Gabriel Agbonlahor to work his way back into the first team.

Agbonlahor has not featured for the club since March, having been deemed unfit by Eric Black towards the end of last season and fallen out of favour under Roberto Di Matteo.

The 30-year-old's off-field behaviour also saw him stripped of the club captaincy, but Bruce insists that the former England international will have a clean slate following his arrival.

"I'm not really interested in what has happened in the past. As far as I'm concerned this is under my remit," he told reporters.

"Of course managers get problems to deal with but at this moment in time I've got none. I've only been here for 24 hours and as far as I'm concerned the slate is wiped clean for all of them.

"We start again tomorrow. That obviously means Gabby too. He's had his problems and it's fair to say he and I have got to get him into some condition, but that applies to him too."

Agbonlahor is Villa's record goalscorer in the Premier League.