The 37-year-old striker signed a one-year extension to his contract last summer but missed the start of the season with a thigh injury and has made only eight appearances this term, scoring once. Phillips told talkSPORT: "I've had a chat with the manager and he's said that I can go if the right offer comes along. "It's a bit disappointing but I accept that at this stage in my career perhaps I need to be playing games and I've always said that, if the right offer comes along, I'll definitely have a look at it." The striker also defended Darren Bent over his controversial £18million move from Sunderland to Aston Villa, which was completed on Tuesday. Bent was criticised by Black Cats manager Steve Bruce, who claimed the club and supporters were entitled to feel "massively let down" by the England player. Phillips, who played more than 200 games for Sunderland and also spent a season with Villa, added: "It was a shock to me. "What Aston Villa are getting, though, is a top quality striker with a fantastic record in the Premier League, and we all know that's what Villa need at the moment. "They need someone to put the ball in the back of the net and Darren Bent is up there with the best of them. "When I first looked at it, I thought it must be about money. The more I thought about it, the more it think that Villa have really sold the club to him. "Fair play to him, he's obviously doubled his wages and he's going to be well looked after but the pressure on his shoulders is going to be immense. "He was fantastic for Sunderland and I'm gutted for Steve Bruce because they were putting together a brilliant squad up there. It's strange that he's gone from a top-six club to one in the bottom three."
