Bring it on: Hot shot Bent (left) is relishing a
crack at Manchester United
In-form striker Darren Bent has warned
Manchester
United not to expect an easy day out
at
Sunderland this
weekend.
United head for the Stadium of Light on Saturday trailing
reigning Barclays Premier League champions Chelsea by three points
after just six games.
Carlo Ancelotti's men lost 1-0 at Manchester City last weekend
24 hours before United were held 2-2 at Bolton.
Bent scored twice in his side's 2-2 draw against Liverpool last
weekend although it is a measure of the Black Cats' blossoming
confidence that they returned from Anfield disappointed not to be
doing so with all three points after referee Stuart Attwell's
decision to allow Dirk Kuyt's controversial opener.
The draw came a week after Bent's late equaliser secured a point
against Arsenal and five after his last-gasp penalty sent City home
from Wearside empty-handed to emphasise Sunderland's growing
success rate against the bigger clubs.
Bent told SAFC TV: 'As long as we take the great positives from
what we did against Liverpool into the Manchester United game, I am
sure we will be okay because at home against the big boys, we have
been playing so, so well.
'Everyone seems to lift their game and the crowd lifts us and we
seem to get the results we want to get, so if we can continue with
the performance from Liverpool and take it into the United game,
then it should be a good, good game.
'I can't remember the last time we lost to a so-called big team
at home.'
The answer to Bent's poser is that United were the last member
of the Premier League's aristocracy to win at the Stadium of Light
when Nani's 28th-minute strike secured a narrow 1-0 victory on May
2 this year, although it has been something of a rare occurrence
during Steve Bruce's reign as manager.
Sidelined: United striker Rooney will play no part
at the Stadium of Light
Chelsea's 3-1 success on Wearside in August last year
was followed by 1-0 wins over both Liverpool and Arsenal, while
Tottenham, who finished fourth last season, lost 3-1 in
April.
Bent is fully aware of the talent at United boss Sir Alex
Ferguson's disposal even without the injured and out of form Wayne
Rooney.
However, he is confident that Sunderland will more than give
them a game if they perform as they have done to date on their own
pitch this season.
He said: 'United have got some top, top players - they have got
Rooney, [Dimitar] Berbatov, who has been on fire this year, [Paul]
Scholes, [Ryan] Giggs, Nani...the names are endless with the talent
they have in their team.
'But at the same time, on Saturday they have got to come and
play on the same pitch we have got to play on.
'The main thing is that we set our stall out and make it hard
for them to beat us, and then we go from there and make sure we
play our game and cause them a few problems.'
England international Bent goes into the game with eight goals
to his name for the new campaign, seven of them for Sunderland and
five of those in the league, a return which leaves him just one
behind Berbatov and Chelsea's Florent Malouda and level with Didier
Drogba.
Meanwhile, Bruce has confirmed that keeper Simon Mignolet will
keep his place this weekend despite Craig Gordon's return to
fitness.
