Bent sidelined for Villa

Aston Villa striker Darren Bent has been ruled out of the club's Christmas programme with a hamstring injury suffered during the midweek Capital One Cup at Norwich, the club have confirmed.

Bent limped out of the quarter-final tie at Carrow Road after only half an hour - his first start for six weeks.

The England international underwent a scan on Wednesday and Villa manager Paul Lambert is resigned to being without the club's record signing "for a few weeks".

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