Darren Bent is set for showdown talks with Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert to discuss his future, The Sun claim.
The England international was dropped for the Midlands club’s game against West Brom on Sunday, but did come off the bench to get an equaliser for the Villa Park club in a 1-1 draw.
Bent was initially named as club captain due to Stiliyan Petrov’s ongoing medical concerns, but the Scottish coach has also stripped the forward of the skipper’s armband of late.
Given that Bent is no longer guaranteed a first-team place at Villa, there have been rumblings in the press over the attacker’s long term future with Lambert in charge of the club.
Bent has confessed however that he is in the dark slightly, and will talk to Lambert this week to shed some light on the situation.
“It’s been a crappy couple of weeks for me,” the goalgetter admitted.
“I’ve not spoken to the manager about why he left me out, we’ll probably speak this week.”
By Gareth McKnight