Bruce: Bent has England chance

(GSM) – Sunderland manager Steve Bruce claims Darren Bent has a good chance to go to South Africa with the England squad after the striker breached the 20-goal mark after Saturday’s 3-1 win against Birmingham.

Bent took his tally to 21 goals with two goals against Birmingham and the striker currently sits third only after Wayne Rooney and Didier Drogba in the goalscoring charts.

“He’s had a fantastic first season,” the Black Cats boss told Sky Sports.

“Twenty-one goals with eight games to go is a fantastic return from the kid in a team that’s been struggling for a while and to keep on scoring like he has is a fantastic achievement and I hope he carries it on.

“As I have said repeatedly, he has to be in with a chance to go to South Africa – he’s a goalscorer and they should be there.”

And Bent is also ambitious about his World Cup chances but reckons the importance of continuing to work hard and playing well for his club.

“Quite a few people have said I deserve to be there but there are some fantastic strikers about playing really well and the main thing for me is that I keep working hard and play well for Sunderland.”