Bent loses Villa captaincy

Darren Bent has been stripped of the Aston Villa captaincy to ensure he is solely focused on recapturing his form in front of goal.

Bent missed several months at the end of last season after suffering a serious injury in the 2-2 draw against Queens Park Rangers in February.

The injury prevented him from representing England at Euro 2012 and as a result he is determined to do all he can to be part of the squad for the World Cup in 2014, providing Roy Hodgson’s men qualify for Brazil.

However, he has yet to score this season and the striker could find himself omitted from the England squad for the next round of World Cup qualifiers in October.

Villa manager Paul Lambert believes Bent needs to concentrate on rediscovering his form and in a bid to help the striker, he has handed the captain’s armband to Dutch defender Ron Vlaar.

“In terms of my decision on the captaincy, I just wanted to give Darren a break. I just want him to concentrate on goals,” said Lambert.

“He has been excellent against Newcastle and Swansea in our last couple of games and has looked sharp.

“He is playing well, but I think changing it will help him. It will let him just concentrate on scoring goals for the team.”

Vlaar only joined Villa from Feyenoord in the summer but he has already made a big impact at Villa Park and Lambert is hopeful the extra responsibility will benefit his game.

“Ron is amazing. He is colossal and has been since he came here. He has been excellent for us,” Lambert added.

“He is not a young kid. He is not 21. He has been at a huge football club himself and I just think he is a top player.”