Following their 2-2 draw against Wolves at the weekend, Villa badly need a win to boost their hopes of finishing fourth and qualifying for next season's Champions League. But O'Neill knows that Villa's hopes of beating Sunderland could depend on them keeping Bent and strike partner Kenwyne Jones in check. Bent took his goal tally for the season to 21 with a double against Birmingham on Saturday and O'Neill has been impressed by the form that the England international has shown at the Stadium of Light following his £10million move from Tottenham. He said: "I do agree that Bent has had a really terrific season and he has the goals to prove his point. "It was a chance he was looking for at Tottenham to be playing pretty regularly, but with their strike force it didn't appear as if that was going to be at all possible. "He has gone to Sunderland and proved himself, while Jones, on his day, is a real handful." A Villa win would turn up the heat on Tottenham in fourth and O'Neill added: "We would be only two points behind Tottenham if we beat Sunderland and we are desperate to try and win the game against a rejuvenated Sunderland. "The consequences are that we could close the gap again." But O'Neill knows a win against Sunderland will be hard-earned as Steve Bruce's side have taken eight points from their last four games to ease their relegation fears. "It is interesting that when a team begin lifting themselves out of a difficult situation it is amazing how quickly the confidence comes back," O'Neill added. "For instance, if we had been playing this game three weeks ago they may have been looking over their shoulder to see where the next point is coming from. "But they have stuck to their task, won a couple of games and in actual fact they are coming to Villa Park probably clear of relegation. "They have to get one or two more points along the way but now have more confidence than they have had for the last two or three months." Villa could be without two of their key players for the game as 14-goal leading scorer Gabriel Agbonlahor is definitely missing with a foot problem and central defender Richard Dunne is a major doubt with a sore Achilles. O'Neill admits that, as the season draws to a close, it is going to test his squad to the limit. As well as chasing a Champions League spot, Villa are also in the semi-finals of the FA Cup against Chelsea. O'Neill said: "At this stage of the season it is to be expected that players are feeling injuries and we do have one or two problems. "We are now coming to the end of March and the season is hotting up. We will probably have to make a few changes over the next couple of games but that must be expected. "We may have lost a little ground in the league but there are going to be a lot of twists and turns in the remaining games."
