Aston Villa have no issue with the injured striker Darren Bent undertaking some Christmas shopping It is understood, however, that Villa are relaxed about the situation and are hoping Bent will be fit for Wednesday’s game at home to Arsenal. Bent was ruled out of the game at Villa Park with a thigh injury. The England player reported to the Bodymoor Heath training ground on Sunday morning and underwent two hours of treatment. He was told by the club’s doctors to go home, where he watched the majority of the Premier League match on television. Bent then decided to go shopping, which led to consternation among some supporters. Jonathan Fear, the editor of fans’ website Vital Villa, said: “If Darren was told to go home by the club doctors then that explains things and why he wasn’t at the game. But even if he does care for Villa, symbolically going out shopping during the latter part of the game makes it look to the fans that he doesn’t give a stuff for Villa.” Bent used Twitter to say: “Nothing is more important to me than playing football, sadly injury meant I wasn’t able to do that today. Gutted not to be involved. I hope to be back very soon. Watched the majority of the game on TV. Never knew popping out would cause an issue and for that I apologise.” “Then he’ll be back in the reckoning without question. He has got a thigh-cum-groin kicking strain. He came off the training pitch on Tuesday after having a shot at goal. “When it’s not a clash between two players and they pull up, it means something else has happened and it can be quite serious. But the doctor seems to think he should be quite close to being ready for Wednesday. We’ll keep our fingers crossed that he is OK.”

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