Mentored By The Hulk

John Carew has said the best is yet to come from Gabby Agbonlahor and part of his job as a senior player to help and advise him as he develops.

Speaking on the official site, Carew expressed his delight at our opener against Man City and said he was very impressed with the improvements Gabby has shown over the last few months, let alone impressed with the cool manner he took his hattrick.

'Gabby was great. Like any striker he was waiting for that opening goal of the season. So to start the season with a hat-trick - it can't be better than that.

'He's improved so much in my time at the club but there is definitely much more to come from him. I've seen him getting better and better since I came here and he will continue to get better and better.'

Speaking with his 'senior hat' on, Carew explained that for all the youngsters, not just Gabby, the experienced players are their to help and mentor them through their development. The job of training a player isn't simply the remit of a coach, it's your fellow teammates as and when they are needed.

'I hope I can help him continue to improve. If I can be of any help to him, I will do my best - in training or in games - to be of assistance.

'If he needs me I am there and he just has to use me as much as he wants. That is part of your job as a senior player and the other senior players are also there to help.

'He can be as good as he wants to be. We just have to let him focus on the games and he will continue to improve. Playing in Europe this season will help him get better so hopefully we can do well in the UEFA Cup.

'This is a great team for a striker. We create a lot of chances and are very dangerous when we attack. I think this season we can score more than we did last year.'

That's a big prediction from the big man. Score more than last season, most of us would take scoring the same but conceeding less to be honest.

On Man City itself, he concludes:

'It was a great start to the season. We won and scored four goals so that was a really good day for us.

'We played great and it was good to win convincingly because Manchester City have a good team and play good football.'

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