• 28-year-old denies he wants to leave struggling club
• 'I signed for Villa because I wanted to be here and I still do'
Darren Bent has pledged his future to Aston Villa and promised the squad will get behind the club's new manager.
The 28-year-old, who missed the last three months of the season after rupturing ankle ligaments, was linked with a move away in January.
Villa struggled without Bent, who scored 11 goals, and their 16th-place finish only two points above the relegation zone cost Alex McLeish his job as manager after one season in charge. But despite the upheaval this season, after key players departed, Bent insists he remains committed to the club he joined in January 2011.
"People have asked if I was mis-sold the dream when I signed and if I'm honest I didn't think Ashley Young and Stewart Downing would leave in the same summer," he told the Birmingham Mail.
"But I signed for Aston Villa because I wanted to be here and I still do. I was linked with a transfer out of here all through January and I didn't want that then and I don't want that now.
"It's not been a great season but this is a massive club and we've got to make sure it is a blip that doesn't happen again. It is still a time of transition and we need to do our best to get behind the new manager."
McLeish faced a wall of opposition from fans having been appointed from city rivals Birmingham last summer, and when the club was dragged into a relegation battle the criticism worsened. Bent feels McLeish's sacking may actually have come as something of a relief to the former Birmingham manager.
"The manager wouldn't admit it, I'm sure, but maybe it's a bit of a relief to him after the fans' reaction. Aston Villa fans aren't used to seeing this football club in this position and you can understand why they have got frustrated.
"When they see us down there in the table they will get annoyed and obviously the Birmingham thing didn't help either. But it's all about results and Aston Villa and relegation shouldn't even be in the same sentence. The players must take responsibility too, including me." Read More
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