Bent: 100 club

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Centurion Bent still cautious

England’s Darren Bent is not taking his place at Euro 2012 for granted, despite scoring his 100th career goal in midweek.

The Aston Villa striker, who reached the milestone in a 2-2 draw with QPR, missed out on the 2006 and 2010 World Cup squads, while England failed to qualify for Euro 2008.

Bent hopes his century of goals will help his England prospects but concedes there are no guarantees.

“So much has gone on before. I have had times in my career when I have been scoring loads of goals and not been picked before,” he told Press Association.

“Anything is possible when it comes to that. All I can do is keep reminding people of what I can do and keep trying to put the ball in the back of the net.

“Hopefully a big stat like me getting into the 100 club will help my cause.

“I’ve said many times how much I want to play in a major tournament for England especially after missing out before.”

Bent added that he was proud to become the 21st player to score 100 goals since the Premier League’s inception in 1992.

“It feels fantastic. I have been thinking about it. Ever since I stepped in the Premier League I always thought about joining the 100 club,” he said.

“When I got the first one it was a long time ago, so for me to have actually done it now feels fantastic.

“Some of the names in that bracket are fantastic so for me to be amongst them now is great. Hopefully I have still got time to get more goals and push right up there in the 100 club.”