Darren Bent insists Aston Villa team-mates have the self-belief to avoid Premier League relegation

EPL, Aston Villa v Everton, Darren Bent,Stewart Downing and Ashley Young

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Aston Villa’s players continue to believe in themselves and will stave off the threat of Premier League relegation if they continue to perform as they did at Everton according to the club’s record signing Darren Bent.

Bent bagged a brace in the Goodison Park clash but his side left with only a share of the spoils when Leighton Baines converted a controversial penalty late on.  Despite his personal contribution, Bent is all for the team cause and adamant Villa will pull clear of their relegation rivals.

“It is not really about me being the star. It is about us being a team, picking up the points and trying to move up the league,” Bent told reporters.

“We believe in our ability and if we keep playing well and showing the kind of performance we did in the second half, I am sure we will be fine.”

Brimming with confidence after helping England take control of the Euro 2012 destiny last weekend, the former Sunderland man converted twice in 20 minutes on Merseyside to turn the fixture on its head and insists the players won’t let the frustration of conceding a controversial penalty get them down.

“It didn’t look like a penalty and we are disappointed with that but it is part of football and you have to deal with it,” added the 27-year-old.

“It was a good result. It was a disappointment after how hard we worked in the second half, coming out of the blocks as fast as we did, but the main thing is we picked up a point and we will kick on.”

Villa now face a run of five fixtures against sides who could all realistically get sucked into the relegation zone, as they entertain Newcastle, Stoke and Wigan and visit West Ham and local rivals West Bromwich Albion.