Walker can be Euro 2012 starter - Bent

Darren Bent has warned Glen Johnson and Micah Richards they face a battle royal with Kyle Walker to become England's number one right-back at Euro 2012.

Aston Villa striker Bent knows all about Walker's qualities from their time playing together during the second half of last season, when the young defender was on loan at Villa Park from Tottenham.

Now very much a part of the first-team set-up at Spurs, Walker underlined his potential by winning the man-of-the-match award for his performance in England's 1-0 win over Sweden at Wembley last night.

Bent, who will face Walker in next Monday's Barclays Premier League game at White Hart Lane, said: "I know all about Kyle and he has got a lot of pace.

"He can get up and down the pitch, and to be fair, is like a modern-day right-back.

"I'm sure it is going to be a great tussle between him, Micah and Glen for the right-back spot.

"Knowing Kyle, he won't give up the fight. He is that sort of character. He will be raring to go."

Bent has become a regular in recent times for England but knows the next few months will be crucial for all the players bidding to be part of Fabio Capello's Euro 2012 squad.

He said: "You hope you do well enough. It's about what you do for your club side now.

"As long as I keep playing well for Villa and the next friendly for England, hopefully I will be there.

"You can always do better, but at the same time I'm happy with the way things are going at the moment.

"As long as I keep playing well for my club and keep getting into the starting 11, then I'll be happy."

Bent feels England deserve credit for their professional approach against Sweden after the euphoria of defeating world and European champions Spain three days earlier.

He said: "Momentum is built up by winning games and playing well and we are doing that and we've got to build on that.

"We could have sat back after the Spain game and patted ourselves on the back at beating them and thought 'that's it'.

"But we didn't, we played well against Sweden and managed to beat them as well.

"You don't get much better then Spain on Saturday and then Sweden, who we hadn't beaten for 40-something years."