Carew: He learned flick from me!

JOHN Carew insists Gabby Agbonlahor's touch of class for last night's brilliant back-heeled winner was a sign of the England hopeful's confidence.

Carew joked that his in-form strike partner had learned the skill off him by watching repeats of a similar goal he scored against Sunderland a year ago.

"When he flicked it like that it was a sign of confidence," said Carew, whose bustling run set up Agbonlahor's decisive third minute goal against Cardiff. Did I teach him how to do it? No, I did it last year, so maybe he was watching the video of that.

"I took the ball to the right side and I had a go at the defender one on one.

"I tried to pass him and when I passed him I saw Gabby in front of goal so I just hit it low and hard and he finished it with great class with a flick."

Carew, who again talked up Agbonlahor's World Cup chances after four goals in four games, believes the Brummie striker will become even more prolific with time.

"All players are confidence players and he's young so he's still developing," he added.

"He will get more and more consistent every season. The periods where things aren't going that well will be shorter as he gets more experience and the periods where he plays well will be longer.

"He's really improving his game all the time."