Tottenham never wanted me, admits Sunderland hot-shot Darren Bent

Darren Bent has admitted he never felt wanted at Spurs from the moment he signed.

The Sunderland striker's return of eight goals in 11 starts since his £10million move to Sunderland has made Harry Redknapp’s decision to offload him questionable.

Bent, 25, said: “It has been fantastic moving to Sunderland. Being at Spurs I was on a downer. People were criticising me left right and centre, questioning me, which in my eyes was ridiculous.

“I still scored 17 goals last season which was their top goal scorer and people were still criticising me and speculating about my role, where is he going?

“Before that when I went to Spurs I had people writing stuff like we don’t want him here. I was fighting an uphill battle before I went there.

“I knew they had Defoe, Berbatov and Keane. Every club needs four good strikers they always say. It wasn’t just my decision to go there. Other people were influencing it as well. So by the time I got there it was a bit like 'why is he here?'.

“It was completely different at Sunderland. I had thousands of people on my Twitter page saying we want you here. I just wanted to get up here and play for these people. I think it is the faith they have showed in my that makes me want to go the extra mile for them.

“I have had to grow up off the pitch. Every time someone said something negative about me I used to take it to heart and it used to bug me. After two years of being criticised it doesn’t phase me.”

Bent, who is currently the top English goal scorer in the Premier League, is expecting a rough ride from the White Hart Lane.

But a good performance this weekend could clinch a call up to the England squad in the absence of Carlton Cole.

Bent now has a boss in Steve Bruce who had put a smile back on his face and made him enjoy his football again.

He added: “If you have a manager who believes in you 100 per cent and knows what you can do you will always go that extra. It is about being given a chance.

“I have come here after a hard two years and the fans have welcomed me like nothing has happened. Because they have got behind me I have managed to get goals and work hard for them. It is not about having an arm round the shoulder it is about being given a chance in the first place.”

Bent though is not on a personal revenge mission today. He would rather Sunderland collected the points and not score than a one man glory hunt.

He added: “It is not about Darren Bent versus Spurs is so much more than that - how well we have started the season, about us kicking on now and moving  to the next level and getting to Europe and going to Spurs and getting results. It will be a strange occasion going back and the ovation won’t be nice but I will get on with it.”

Bent created a storm in the summer when he used his social networking page on Twitter to abuse Spurs chief Daniel Levy and order him to get his transfer to the Stadium of Light done, using strong language.

Bent said: “I regret the Twitter thing. It was not my nature. I probably shouldn’t have done it. What is done is done.”

However his new page on Twitter has attracted more than 10,000 followers and the club have encouraged it, because he is “connecting" with fans.

Bent added: “It would mean a lot to score but everything for the team to win. If I don’t score and we win I will be over the moon.”

Sunderland's Darren Bent 'too sensitive' claims Spurs boss Harry Redknapp