The Aston Villa forward has not played for the club since March.
New Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce
Steve Bruce has hinted that Aston Villa outcast Gabby Agbonlahor could be back in first-team contention in around five weeks, the Birmingham Mail reports.
The 30-year-old had been something of a stalwart for the Villans over the past decade, but has fallen out of favour in recent times.
Aston Villa’s Gabriel Agbonlahor
His most recent appearance for the club came back in March during the final days of Remi Garde’s tenure. But despite the Frenchman’s departure, he remained on the periphery under Roberto Di Matteo.
However, it seems that Bruce has handed Agbonlahor a lifeline as the new boss discussed the lengths that the forward has gone to in an attempt to get back into the team.
Aston Villa’s Gabriel Agbonlahor in action with Stoke’s Xherdan Shaqiri
“He’s on a programme at the moment and is now one week into six weeks,” he said, as reported by the Birmingham Mail.
“He is listening and he wants to succeed again.
“This week he has been terrific with everything we have put to him. He’s dipped in and out with us.”
Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce gestures to their fans
While Agbonlahor is determined to win the new manager over, it will surely still be an uphill task trying to force his way back into the team.
Villa now boast a tremendous amount of attacking depth, with the likes of Jonathan Kodjia, Ross McCormack and Rudy Gestede in their ranks, so arguably have one of the strongest frontlines in the division, even without Agbonlahor.
However, the striker is the club’s leading goalscorer in the Premier League and has a better understanding than most of the current squad of what the club means to the supporters, so he could arguably still have an important role to play as they look to get themselves into promotion contention.
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