BENT TORMENT
England striker to miss Euros with ankle injury
ENGLAND’S plans f or Euro 2012 descended deeper into crisis last night when it emerged Darren Bent looks set to miss the tournament because of an ankle injury.
Already without a full-time manager and a permanent captain, the national team go to Poland and Ukraine with an alarming shortage of established strikers. Wayne Rooney’s suspension for the first two games has left England searching for a replacement and Bent was seen as the favourite after scoring four goals under former boss Fabio Capello.
But the 28-year- old ruptured ankle ligaments during Aston Villa’s 0-0 draw at Wigan on Saturday and will be out for three months. Bent’s manager, Alex Mcleish, was fearful after the striker landed
awkwardly following a challenge from Antolin Alcaraz and left the pitch on a stretcher. The bad news was confirmed yesterday and means Bent will not be available until the end of May at the earliest. England’s Euro 2012 campaign begins against France on June 11, which puts pressure on players such as Danny Welbeck and Daniel Sturridge to quickly prove themselves at this level. Stuart Pearce will have his first proper training session with the England squad today ahead of tomorrow night’s friendly against Holland — one of only three matches before the France fixture — and the interim manager goes into it with three strikers — Welbeck, Sturridge and Fraizer Campbell — who have just four caps between them. There are, of course, more experienced alternatives, not least Jermain Defoe, Peter Crouch and Bobby Zamora. But all three were excluded for this friendly and certainly would not have been considered the ideal alternative to Rooney by Capello. For Aston Villa, the news about Bent also amounts to a serious setback. The striker saw a specialist in London yesterday and last night the club issued a statement saying: ‘Darren Bent has undergone scans and faces up to 12 weeks on the sidelines having ruptured ankle ligaments in his left foot and is unlikely to play again this season.’ Another blow to Pearce came as Tottenham defender Kyle Walker also pulled out of the squad with an ankle injury, suffered in the 5-2 defeat by Arsenal on Sunday. Walker’s Spurs team-mate Scott Parker has, meanwhile, been voted England’s player of the year by fans. Parker said: ‘It’s a great honour. Just looking at the names on the trophy it’s a real achievement. It’s a proud moment for me.’