Bruce unfazed by Bent return

Sunderland boss Steve Bruce refused to be drawn on Darren Bent’s return to the Stadium of Light with Aston Villa this weekend.

Bruce and his side will be aiming from three points against Villa after beating Bolton away from home last week, and Bruce is determined not to let their preparations get derailed by the hype surrounding Bent’s return to his former club.

The striker left the Stadium of Light following a big-money swoop from Villa in January, much to the chagrin of the Sunderland faithful.

But Bruce refused to acknowledge the significance of Bent’s return, and said he was concentrating solely on taking three points on Saturday.

“The important thing for us is to focus on beating Aston Villa,” Bruce told the club’s official website when asked about his former striker’s return. “We’ve got a game to win to really get our season on track.”

“We could go to Manchester United in the top half of the table with a quarter of the season gone, which was our aim.”

“Villa had a good start to the season in terms of not being beaten, but all of a sudden they’ve gone and lost their last two.”

“We know they’ll be going all-out to bounce back, and that’s what the Premier League is. They are a good team who have good players, but so do we.”

The Black Cats are currently 14th in the Premier League on nine points, but Bruce is happy with the way his squad is gelling after a rough start to the season.

“I enjoy working with the players I’ve got here – they’re a terrific group who want to do the job, want to work hard and want Sunderland to do well,” he added.

“It’s not been easy with the start and lots of new faces, but now they are coming to terms with what’s required.”

“We did particularly well against Villa last season so let’s hope that continues. It’ll be tough, but we want back to back wins – that’s what we’re aiming for.”