Gabriel Agbonlahor: Aston Villa striker suspended by club

Aston Villa have suspended striker Gabriel Agbonlahor and begun an investigation after he was allegedly pictured with laughing gas canisters.

Agbonlahor was already on the sidelines after being told he was not fit enough.

He was suspended by Villa earlier this month after he was pictured appearing to hold a shisha pipe while in Dubai, but the club took no further action.

Villa were relegated from the Premier League after losing 1-0 to Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday.

They are bottom of the table after collecting only 16 points from 34 games.

The West Midlands outfit are also without a manager following the exit of Frenchman Remi Garde and have been hit by two key resignations.

Former Football Association chairman David Bernstein and Lord King, a former Governor of the Bank of England, both quit the board on Monday.

Having been on the club's books since he was a schoolboy, Agbonlahor, who reportedly earns £50,000 a week, has scored only one league goal this season.

The form of the club's record Premier League goalscorer has been symptomatic of a woeful season at Villa Park.

Last season's FA Cup finalists lost two key players in the summer - striker Christian Benteke to Liverpool for £32.5m and England international Fabian Delph to Manchester City for £8m - but won their opening Premier League game.

However, they did not add a second victory until January, by which time they had sacked manager Tim Sherwood.

His replacement, Garde, had his credentials questioned given his lack of English managerial experience and one of his first jobs was to discipline midfielder Jack Grealish for being pictured partying after a 4-0 defeat at Everton.

A brief upturn in form in January came before Garde's obvious disappointment in failing to recruit any new players in the transfer window.

After a 6-0 home defeat by Liverpool - Villa's worst in 81 years - Garde's reign came to an end on 29 March, after less than five months in charge.