Bent aware of battle for a place

Darren Bent admits he faces a battle to win a regular England spot despite his impressive performance against Denmark on Wednesday night.

Aston Villa's record signing scored his second goal for his country to help them achieve a 2-1 success. But Bent is realistic about his prospects of becoming a first-choice player, and knows he has to perform at a high level.

"I can try and put a marker down but there are a lot of good English strikers around," said Bent.

"It was only a couple of games ago that Jermain Defoe got a hat-trick (against Bulgaria) so there is big competition.

"But as long as I can keep going, keep my club form up and keep trying to put in performances when I'm picked for England, then anything is possible.

"I was happy to get 90 minutes. Fabio (Capello) felt it was right to start me and I managed to get a goal and was happy with the performance."

Bent's club-mate Ashley Young capped a polished performance by netting the second-half winner as a substitute. Young looked at home in the second striker role in one of his most decisive contributions for his country.

"I know what Ash can do. I've seen it at first hand since I came to Villa," said Bent.

"He has been showing that form since I went to the football club. He has been brilliant week in and week out.

"But it was a good team performance. The boys did well. Denmark are a good side, they play good football but I thought we coped well."