Bent has a future at Villa - Lambert

Paul Lambert is confident Aston Villa will keep hold of dropped record signing Darren Bent beyond the January transfer window.

Villa manager Lambert has left the £18 million capture from Sunderland out of his starting line-up for the matches with West Brom and Tottenham and that has led to speculation that Bent will leave the midlands club when the transfer window reopens.

But Lambert said: "I'm pretty sure Darren will come back strongly. I don't think he'll take it (being dropped) lying down. There's nothing wrong with getting a knock at times, nothing wrong with it. He'll bounce back from it. He's only missed two games. He's nothing to prove to me or anybody else. I know what he can do."

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