Fabio Capello took five strikers to Montenegro for England's 2012 European Championship qualifier, and while Gabriel Agbonlahor was not one of them, the fact that his omission from Capello's squad even merits a discussion at all is testament to the resurgence in form that the Villa man has shown during the first seven weeks of the Premier League season.

Wayne Rooney aside, it would be a reasonably straightforward exercise to demonstrate that Agbonlahor is the in-form English striker in the league at present.

Certainly, he is performing a notch above the other four forwards that Capello chose alongside Rooney. His goal in the Merseyside derby last weekend aside, Andy Carroll has done little this season. Danny Welbeck and Bobby Zamora both fall into the decent all-rounder category - competent strikers who can take a chance when presented with one, but perhaps not the kind of player who will actually frighten a defence.

Agbonlahor's team-mate, Darren Bent, still possesses the sharpest predatory instincts of any striker in the squad and his recent international record, which suggests he's beginning to adjust to the highest of levels, justifies his selection, even if his start to the domestic season has been interrupted with a troublesome groin injury.

Nevertheless, his expert finish against Wigan last weekend served as a timely reminder of exactly what he's all about. A sniff of a chance, and Bent usually seizes the moment.

Agbonlahor is blessed with qualities that are somewhat different to his international rivals, however, which is why Capello could spend his time a lot less wisely in the coming weeks and months closely studying the Villa striker.

The Montenegro match has come at the wrong time for Gaby - there were reports that Agbonlahor was being considered, at least for a place in the 'provisional' squad but required treatment on a niggling back complaint - but he's put himself back in contention for an England place; six months ago he seemed a million miles away from that.

The 2010-11 season was his worst in a Villa shirt. He was ineffective, out of sorts, dispirited, demotivated, marginalised. An unhappy player. That was obvious.

It was concerning to see him like that. Like many Villa fans, I have a soft spot for Gabby. Home grown, local lads - call them what you will, but every supporter likes to see one of their own make it at their boyhood club, and to watch Agbonlahor, raised within shooting distance of Villa Park, rise through the ranks and emerge as a first team player, then furthermore develop into one of the most exciting strikers Villa have 'created' in years, was special, and hugely satisfying.

But it came down to more than just sentimental emotion. Over the years, since breaking into the side under Martin O'Neill in 2006, Gabby has scored goals. And big goals, too: an away winner at Old Trafford (now that hasn't happened too often in my Villa-supporting lifetime, trust me), late winners against Birmingham, a seven-minute opening day hat-trick against Man City in 2008. Even last season, in a rare bright moment, a last-minute winner at West Ham to earn three crucial points with relegation still a possibility.

Which made the tribulations of last season hard to take, and even harder to understand. Gabby started the campaign injured, and when he did return, Gerard Houllier used him in an unfamiliar wide attacking role, often down the left. It didn't seem to suit him. His body language said as much. He scored a handful - literally one handful - of goals. He looked more like a left wing-back than a striker playing wide.

Houllier, of course, left in the summer. Gabby, despite one or two whispers to the contrary, stayed. And here's where the story gets slighter odder. For, come the opening day of the season, Agbonlahor lined up... wide left. Dismay among the supporters; Alex McLeish using the player just as Houllier did. And yet, this time around, Gabby has appeared to flourish in the role.

He's been fantastic this season, once or twice playing a more traditional striking role - an out-and-out centre-forward when Bent missed the QPR match - but more often than not, starting out wide and having license to roam infield. His pace is, not surprisingly, stretching defenders, but he's also showing a deftness to his game; witness the measured cross (with his weaker left foot) that teed up Bent's goal against Wigan recently. That cross coming, incidentally, after he'd tracked Wigan's Emerson Boyce to the halfway line, dispossessed him, and raced 40 yards to create the chance.

He's also recaptured that bit of greediness that every striker needs. He has the single-mindedness of a goalscorer back, cutting inside from the left to curl a perfect effort in against Blackburn, trying the same against Wigan and missing the target by inches.

Agbonlahor's confidence is soaring, and it's lovely to see. Why he's thriving in a position he seemed to detest a year ago is perplexing, but maybe it's as simple as being told to express himself, to relax defensive duties and play with freedom.

Whatever it is, it's working. Capello has taken note - if he has need next summer for a flexible, versatile striker, who is showing signs of adding craft and guile to a game which already includes blistering pace and goalscoring instinct, there are few better candidates around than Agbonlahor.

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