Darren Bent says Sunderland goals can take him to World Cup

DARREN BENT believes his form for Sunderland can still win him a World Cup place.

Sunderland striker Bent did not get much of a chance to impress against Brazil in the battle for places in Fabio Capello’s England squad.

Bent is the wild card choice in Capello’s dilemma behind Wayne Rooney, Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe and Emile Heskey.

But Bent believes scoring goals in the Premier League - he has already hit eight for Sunderland this season - will be the key to winning a place for South Africa.

Bent said: “I can’t go back to Sunderland and stop scoring and let my form drop because I won’t get selected for any of the friendlies.

“The main thing is for me to go back to Sunderland to keep working hard and make sure that I am not forgotten about.

“That’s why club form is going to be so vital, especially for me anyway. I mean there are a lot of top quality strikers in England and I have to keep that Sunderland form going, keep my goal-scoring rate high and then I will give myself every possibility of going to South Africa.

“I must have a chance and there are chances for places (for strikers). It’s obviously not like that for Wazza (Rooney) because he has been fantastic for such a long time now. But if I keep going and do my best then no-one can doubt me.”

Bent, who was substituted for Jermain Defoe in the 55th minute, does believe his performance was enough to stake a claim, after admitting he was surprised to get the nod in the starting line-up.

Bent added: “It’s been a while since I started. It’s been about four years or something like that. So I was surprised but also delighted and hopefully there will be a few more of them.

“He (Capello) spoke to me before the game and when I came off and I think I did what was asked of me.

“I will take the positives from this game and from my Sunderland form and take that forward and hopefully be available again for selection.”