Darren Bent’s energy levels exceed expectations

Aug 22 2009 by Mark Douglas, The Journal

DARREN Bent provides the perfect combination of perspiration and inspiration, according to Steve Bruce. Mark Douglas reports.

THERE is a saying about lies, damn lies and statistics but one figure thrown out by Steve Bruce yesterday seemed to sum up his new-look Sunderland pretty succinctly.

Darren Bent, he told reporters, ran the equivalent of 13 kilometres during the midweek defeat against Chelsea – an astonishing feat given that the average Premier League striker struggles to top 11 kilometres.

To put Bent’s contribution in context, even all-action midfielders like Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard rarely go above the 13 he managed to clock up as he darted about shoring up Sunderland’s rearguard action against Carlo Ancelotti’s rampant Blues.

Non-stop endeavour mixed in with a sprinkling of inspiration. It is the Bruce blueprint for remedying Sunderland’s maddening inconsistency and despite Tuesday’s set-back, the early signs are positive ones.

Sure, they spent the second half of Tuesday’s mismatch chasing blue shadows as Chelsea chose a balmy night on Wearside to flex their title muscles. But the Sunderland of last season would have folded long before the Lampard penalty which broke the Black Cats’ doughty resistance.

So if the defeat has taken some of the gloss off that impressive opening day victory over Bolton, it should not erode the optimism that Bruce is edging closer to coming up with a winning formula at the Stadium of Light. It helps that Bent has so far proved to be the polar opposite of his striking predecessor, the moody, brooding Djibril Cissé – on and off the pitch.

Neither Ricky Sbragia or Roy Keane ever divulged the Opta stats for the mercurial former French international but it is difficult to imagine him breaking into double figures at times during the dark days that arrived after December’s brief upturn in fortunes.