Picture unclear over Bent fitness

Aston Villa are putting no timescale on how long record signing Darren Bent will be out of action with his ankle injury.

The England striker suffered the setback in training last week which forced him out of the 1-0 win at Sunderland before undergoing a scan on Wednesday.

Villa boss Paul Lambert said it is a case of "wait and see" but is resigned to again being without Bent for Saturday evening's home clash with Manchester United, and he said: "Darren had a scan on Wednesday and it's still too early so we will have to go with the same squad of players."

The problem relates to Bent's right ankle, the same one he injured last season which forced him out of the final three months of the campaign and ended his hopes of being part of England's Euro 2012 squad.

Asked how long Bent would be out, the Scot added: "Darren's doing okay at the minute but we'll have to wait and see. It is the ankle he injured against Wigan (last season) so we will wait and see."

Lambert confirmed Bent was not fit enough to even be a substitute against the Red Devils, adding: "It is not right at the moment."