McLeish was on the receiving end of three goals from Aston Villa striker Agbonlahor, including two winners, for Villa against Blues in just five appearances. Agbonlahor has also demonstrated his scoring prowess against the Baggies and Wolves, and will be looking to continue his impressive form under McLeish which has helped revive his England hopes. Villa manager McLeish said: "I believe we've got the tools upfront that can hurt them. "Gabby certainly enjoys playing in the derbies and won enough games for Villa against Birmingham. "He won a penalty at Villa Park a couple of years ago to settle the game and got the winner in the same season at St Andrew's. "Birmingham lost both games that season and it was down to Agbonlahor." McLeish has managed to get the best out of Agbonlahor since replacing Gerard Houllier in the summer and believes he can be a major force if he shows more self-belief. He said: "Gabby has trained really hard, showed fantastic application in training, showed he wanted to be in the team. "He knew I rated him highly as a player because he probably had a lot of feedback about my opinion on him. "If Gabby really gets strong in terms of his self-belief, he can be anything he wants." McLeish is happy with the way Agbonlahor's partnership with Darren Bent has flourished, but he feels there is still more to come from the duo. He said: "These guys are doing well, they've scored some goals, they've got to be hungry to score more. "I know they are capable of that. They look as if they are in pretty confident mood. "We look to get these guys into the dangerous areas and to provide the ammunition for them." McLeish will demand his side show more resilience after leaking soft goals in the 4-1 defeat at Manchester City, and hinted players could be axed if there is repeat. He said: "It's really down to following instructions and picking up your man. "We were men down when Vincent Kompany and Mario Ballotelli scored and that shouldn't have been. We gave the instructions and they got lost in the wash. "We can look at the goals and say if it happens again, it could result in a player losing his position. "I'm not saying it will, but it could, because it is so important that you are really vigilant at set-pieces and we have to realise they are a huge part of the game at the top level at the moment."
