Agbonlahor's winning strike in the 3-2 defeat of Wales at Ninian Park last Friday has given Pearce's side the edge ahead of Tuesday's UEFA Under-21 Championship play-off return leg at Villa Park.

And Pearce is convinced the Aston Villa star - who has already had call-ups from Capello but has still to win his first senior cap - has every chance of becoming the next youngster to establish himself at the top level.

England's young stars are favourites to reach the finals in Sweden next summer, and Pearce declared: "Agbonlahor gives us a cutting edge - pace and power in attack gives us cutting edge.

"He's a major threat at this level and he's a major threat in the Premier League.

"He is one of the big driving forces behind Aston Villa when they do well. The cutting edge in their team certainly comes from him.

"He is improving. If you ask me if I think he can get even better, then I think so.

"I think that will come over the next couple of years. He needs to try to have a tilt at getting into the seniors on a regular basis.

"I think he can improve all-round. His pace is legendary and I don't think he can improve that but his sharpness around the box, goalscoring and hold-up play can all improve.

"He's a very strong boy and there is senior football in him as well. That has to be our aim to get him from this team into the seniors on a regular basis, if we can.

"If you look at what Theo's pace did against Croatia and maybe on Saturday against Kazakhstan, Gabby's got the same - blistering pace. At international level that is a fantastic commodity to have.

"But everybody in our camp is looking forward to this game and we want to put a show on and get to the finals of a major tournament.

"Under-21 football is very well supported at the moment."

Pearce expects to have Walcott in his England Under-21 squad next summer if, as expected, they reach the finals.

Pearce joined up with the senior squad on Saturday morning and the former international left-back watched on as Ashley Cole blundered to allow Kazakhstan to get back into their World Cup qualifier at Wembley.

But Pearce was pleased that England's fans rallied to try to silence the boo-boys who made left-back Cole's life difficult after his error.

"It was overwhelming for me, the amount of supporters who started clapping him when he got the ball," said Pearce.

"Their mentality was that they were not going to accept other fans booing him.

"It took a couple of minutes and booing sessions, but the majority of fans started clapping him. That was the message that resounded out of Wembley for me.

"The fact that fellow supporters did not get washed along with the others having a pop. That was a pleasing thing for me.

"Ashley has been around long enough and is one of the top left-backs in the world, and he's been a credit to England. He was part of a team that won 5-1 at international level and that's not easy.

"But he will handle that other stuff like water off a duck's back."