Villa were second best for much of Sunday's game in the absence of Bent, who picked up a thigh injury in training on Tuesday, and strike partner Gabriel Agbonlahor, who was suspended. When Villa fans registered their displeasure at the picture that surfaced, Bent wrote on Twitter: "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 he game on tv. Never knew popping out would cause an issue and for that I apologise." McLeish defended his decision to keep the Bent setback under wraps from the media ahead of the game. He said: "Darren had a scan during the week. It confirmed he had a grade one injury, I didn't reveal it because I wanted to keep things back from Liverpool. "You have to understand that. I didn't want Liverpool knowing our starting line-up. If players are injured, I don't necessarily think we have to declare that they are injured." Jonathan Fear, 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."
