Aston Villa defender Curtis Davies has paid tribute to his team-mate Gabriel Agbonlahor and assured Villa and England fans alike that the young striker will bounce back from the hamstring injury which forced him to pull out of Fabio Capello's inaugural squad.

Agbonlahor pulled up in agony at half-time in Sunday's 2-1 defeat by Fulham at Craven Cottage and was replaced by Marlon Harewood while Davies himself limped from the field with a knee injury.

Davies, 22, has had to endure a rollercoaster of a weekend from the high of learning he was in the Italian's provisional squad to the low of first being left out of the final 23 and then having a nightmare against Fulham.

Both the West Bromwich Albion loan star and Agbonlahor are currently undergoing treatment but Davies is convinced the prognosis is not bad and that both will be given a clean bill of health soon.

He said: "I don't know what happened to my knee. I was running back from a corner and as I stopped I just felt my knee hurt every time I tried to straighten it out. I thought I might be able to run it off but I looked at the bench and thought they might be better getting someone else on for the last three minutes.

Davies, who once again was brutally honest about his mistake in fouling Diomansy Kamara which ultimately led to the free-kick which Jimmy Bullard converted for Fulham's winner, said: "I didn't want to be at fault for another goal. My knee is sore at the moment.

"It is the same for Gabby in that it does not look too serious. I will just have to see what the physios have to say.

"It is a big blow for Gabby but I don't think it is too serious. I think his is just a strain. I think he maybe could have played on but that wouldn't have contributed much.

"We both hope we will be alright for the weekend and Saturday's visit from Newcastle but you never know."

Davies' priority concern will not so much be the disappointment of England but if his injury means he will miss a match for Villa.

If the centre-half is sidelined next week that will surely allow Zat Knight back into contention after Davies won the former Fulham defender's shirt from him back in December after Knight was forced out of the game with Wigan with a one-match suspension after being red-carded at Chelsea on Boxing Day.

Davies took his place, scored on his full league debut at the JJB Stadium and has not looked back since playing seven games in a row and then capping it all with the news he had made Capello's inaugural squad.

The former Luton Town defender said he was sure he and Agbonlahor would still have plenty of time to impress Fabio Capello once they were fit again. He said: "Gabby works so hard. He is a player with ability and some managers would give him the luxury role. But he works his socks off more so than anyone else in the team and that is one of the strongest parts of his game.

"Some managers would give him the licence of staying upfield and while he will score us a goal, Gabby is not like that. He likes to work hard and graft hard for the team and that is what I really like about him."

Davies revealed his foul on Kamara who he played with at The Hawthorns last season before "Joe" joined Fulham in the summer was not intentional or with any malice.

He said: "I know what Joe has got and he can skip past people and put the ball in the back of the net. We are good friends we were best mates at Albion and I got his shirt after the game. I thought the ball was there to be won but he was too quick and moved it away from me."