Darren Bent insists move away from Derby has has never crossed his mind
Thursday 11 August 2016 18:03, UK
Darren Bent insists he has not thought about leaving Derby County despite limited playing time last season.
The 32-year-old striker was regularly behind Chris Martin in the pecking order under Paul Clement and Darren Wassall last term, starting just four Championship games.
But he has remained at the iPro Stadium for another promotion push under Nigel Pearson, and is fully concentrated on the Rams' season.
He told the EFL Weekly Podcast: "After I first came here on loan under Steve McClaren I scored a lot of goals in a short space of time.
"Last season was a bit of a shock to the system as I came in and thought I'd play a lot more, but for whatever reason it didn't happen. At the end you can only do what you can do.
"But it never crossed my mind to want to leave this football club, I just wanted to come into the season in the best shape possible, work hard and go from there."
At 32, Bent still has several top-level playing years left in him, but will the next few seasons see a move abroad?
His former England team-mates - Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole - have moved to the MLS in the latter stages of their career, and Bent himself is not ruling out a move in the same direction.
"Who knows. At the moment I'm just concentrating on Derby County and doing as well as I can.
"I'll never say no to anything and take it as it comes. But now my goal is to nail down a place in Derby's first team and help them get promoted.
"Pearson has come in and told us what he believes in and we have to buy into it.
"Hopefully this season is our year. You can only knock on the door for so long before someone opens it."
Bent's Derby take on Aston Villa on Saturday, August 20 in the Championship live on Sky Sports, the club he spent four-and-a-half years with in the Premier League.
But the former England striker says the game should be considered no different to any other, and he's hoping to keep his starting place having played 90 minutes in the draw against Brighton and the EFL Cup win over Grimsby.
"It's not even about who we're playing, I know it's a big game against my old club, but I just want to stay in the team whoever we're playing.
"It's going to be a different one because I spent so many years down there, but I'm concentrating on Derby.
"Villa have got some good players down there and I'm confident they'll turn it around.
"The foundations of the club are good and I think they've got a good manager down there. Sometimes it takes time to adjust."
Listen to Neil Harris, Kemar Roofe and more in the EFL Weekly Podcast HERE
