Source: Team_Talk
Bruce: Bent revelling in hero worship
Sunderland boss Steve Bruce thinks Darren Bent has benefited from being the "number one" striker at the Stadium of Light this season.[LNB] The £10million man faces former club Tottenham on Saturday, having plundered 21 goals for the Black Cats this season, 20 of them in the Premier League.[LNB]That form has led to calls for the 26-year-old to be included in England boss Fabio Capello's World Cup plans, but whatever happens on that front, Bruce could hardly be more delighted with his club's record signing.[LNB]And Bruce believes Bent is revelling in the adulation previously enjoyed on Wearside by the likes of Brian Clough and Kevin Phillips, and on Tyneside by Jackie Milburn, Malcolm Macdonald and Alan Shearer.[LNB]He said: "The one thing he always wanted to do was play, and he bought into the idea of the north-east loving its centre-forwards.[LNB]"The adulation that was poured out on [Birmingham's] Kevin Phillips the other week was there for everybody to see, and Darren has bought into that.[LNB]"And I think he has benefited from playing week in, week out and being the number one."[LNB]Spurs boss Harry Redknapp agreed to sell Bent to Sunderland after famously comparing his finishing ability to that of his wife Sandra, and not favourably.[LNB]Redknapp's comments may have been tongue in cheek, but there is little doubt the former Ipswich and Charlton frontman has rediscovered his best form at the Stadium of Light, and Bruce is just grateful that the player was available when he chanced his arm.[LNB]He said: "It's all going to be about Darren, but he has got nothing to prove, he has got 20-odd goals.[LNB]"But you can understand Spurs as well. They had got [Jermain] Defoe and they had [Robbie] Keane and they have got [Roman] Pavlyuchenko and [Peter] Crouch walking through the door.[LNB]"What Harry has probably looked at is to play Darren and get the best out of him, he has to play off someone, a bit like Defoe does and a bit like Robbie Keane does.[LNB]"Darren, like any other player, is not going to be happy. You are not going to be happy, if there is anything about you, if you are not playing every week.[LNB]"Everything that was written in papers and Twitter has gone and we have to say thanks to Tottenham, and in particular, Harry, who not only let us buy him but also Alan Hutton too, who helped us enormously at a time when we were struggling defensively.[LNB]"In that respect, Harry has done us a right turn. I will be grateful for that and buy him a beer when I see him."[LNB]Sunderland head into the game not yet mathematically assured of their top-flight status, but possibly as little as a single win away.[LNB]They suffered just their second defeat in 10 games at Liverpool last Sunday, and much of the credit for that improved run must go down to goalkeeper Craig Gordon.[LNB]The Scotland international has been in excellent form in recent weeks, although Saturday's game will bring back painful memories of the broken arm he suffered in a collision with Defoe at White Hart Lane in November.[LNB]Bruce said: "It has been tough mentally to play after a broken arm - he even now wears a protective cast - but he has come through it and has produced the best performances of his life of late.[LNB]"If there has been a better player in the Premier League over the last four weeks, then I haven't seen it."
