Lambert calls for Bent focus

Paul Lambert says he stripped Darren Bent of the Aston Villa captaincy in order for him to concentrate on his goalscoring.

The England striker found goals hard to come by last season under Alex McLeish before his campaign was cut short by an ankle injury in February. Despite a change of management and playing style Bent is yet to break his duck in the Premier League this term and Lambert has taken the decision to remove him of the captain's armband in order to help. New arrival Ron Vlaar has taken on the skipper's mantle and Lambert says he just wants Bent to concentrate on goalscoring from now on. He said: "I just wanted to give Darren a break, I just wanted him to concentrate on scoring goals. I think Darren at Newcastle the other week and against Swansea was excellent. "He is playing well, but I thought I would change it and let him just concentrate on scoring goals."