Unless something strange happens between now and May, it is likely that Gabriel Agbonlahor will be the player who defines Aston Villa's season.

His pace, enthusiasm and versatility have helped the team to overcome what has been, under Martin O'Neill, a transitional period.

Until Agbonlahor was substituted during the 75th minute of Villa's match away to Reading at the weekend, he had played every minute of every match since O'Neill assumed control last August.

That amounts to 2,805 minutes of action (46 hours and 45 minutes), always under pressure, and sometimes with the burden of physical pain. In these times of high intensity, Agbonlahor deserves credit. And a rest.

But nobody was saying the same of Brian Little in 1977.

When the final whistle sounded at Villa Park on May 23, to herald the end of the match against West Bromwich Albion and the end of Villa's season, Little had completed his 56th match for the club, having not missed a minute of action.

Including the three League Cup matches that went to extra time (the last of which was the final second replay), Little performed for the complete 5,130 minutes (85 hours 30 minutes) of Villa's campaign.

Such fortitude would be almost impossible these days.

O'Neill had been wanting to give Agbonlahor a rest for some time but still says that the striker-cum-winger will bounce back from the disappointment of missing those final 15 minutes against Reading.

"Gabby has had a wonderful time for us this season," O'Neill said. "It just wasn’t happening for him on Saturday but that is OK.

"I don’t know whether it was a hangover from his withdrawal from the England Under-21s and he has lost his record of playing every minute of every game.

"But he should be delighted with his season so far. Back in August, if you had told Gabby he would play even ten to 12 games this season he would have probably taken that.

"He picked up an ankle injury around Christmas but continued playing on with that and I’ve been delighted with him."

At least Agbonlahor can look forward to Villa's next match, away to Fulham on March 3, and expect to play some part. Chris Sutton, the Villa striker, cannot.

The 33-year-old's hopes of returning to action in the immediate future have been dashed because his blurred vision has not improved.

O’Neill had been hoping that Sutton would be cleared to resume playing after a visit to see a specialist.

All Sutton can restrict himself to is some non-contact training, although O’Neill does not believe that surgery is on the agenda at this juncture.

Sutton has been out of action since suffering the injury during the home match against Manchester United on December 23.

"Chris saw the specialist and the eye hasn’t improved," O'Neill said.

"We were hoping there would be a significant improvement and that Chris might be given the all-clear.

"He hasn’t been given that but Chris is far from downbeat and has decided he is going to do some non-contact training to get his fitness levels up and then the eye will be reassessed again.

"While it’s a bit of a setback, he is still pretty upbeat and, at the moment, undergoing surgery is not something we are contemplating. It is a self-heal thing.

"But, while we want to be optimistic at some stage, it is definitely a slow process.

"Chris can go about his daily life but said, if his other eye was like it, he would be in a spot of bother."

O’Neill has received no further approach from Birmingham City about taking defender Liam Ridgewell on loan.

Steve Bruce, the Birmingham manager, tried to sign Ridgewell as replacement for Matthew Upson on the final day of the January transfer window but was knocked back, but O'Neill is not in the business of weakening his squad.

And, while Ridgewell is prone to the occasional error, his form has improved immeasurably under O'Neill this season.

"Steve made an initial inquiry about 10-11 days ago but no-one has contacted me again from Birmingham," O'Neill said.

The Villa manager finds himself in the awkward situation of playing only one match in a 31-day period. After the 2-0 defeat to Reading last Saturday, his side have only the match against Fulham between now and the home fixture with Arsenal on March 14.

O'Neill is likely to take the squad abroad, possibly to La Manga, for a training camp.

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