Darren Bent’s England prospects boosted by Aston Villa move

Niall Quinn and Steve Bruce are likely to be seething when they read the latest comments made by Darren Bent, which suggests that the striker’s £18 million move from Sunderland to Aston Villa has enhanced his England prospects.

The Black Cats are currently the team sitting higher in the Premier League and yet Bent claims that Fabio Capello has viewed the player’s move to Villa Park as a positive one.

Bent said: “Since I’ve moved to Villa last month everything has gone right. Fabio said that it has helped my England chances by going to Aston Villa.

“He proved that today by making me start against Denmark and I was happy with the performance and the goal.

“I never dreamed before the game that I would get the full 90 minutes in and it is a big boost.

“Of course you feel extra pressure to play and take chances with England, especially with the amount of English strikers about at the moment.”

It seems strange that Capello would make such comments, although perhaps the fact that Ashley Young is also on the books at Villa means that they are likely to have a better understanding at international level.