Aston Villa’s Stiliyan Petrov reveals Darren Bent ‘hurt’ by Sunderland jeers
Monday 31st October 2011, 11:00AM GMT.
Aston Villa captain Stiliyan Petrov today revealed team-mate Darren Bent was “hurt” by the hostile reaction he received against former club Sunderland.
Bent returned to the Stadium of Light for the first time since his £24million switch in January and spoke in the build-up to the game of his respect for the Sunderland fans in a bid to defuse the situation.
But it made little difference as the 27-year-old striker was subjected to all manner of abuse from the home supporters, who gave him stick from the moment he came out for the warm-up until he left the pitch.
Although Petrov felt Bent coped with the extra attention as Villa claimed a point with a 2-2 draw, the skipper believes some of the abuse will have left its mark.
He said: “Was he hurt by it? Of course. He was surprised how loud the boos were. When you have a good time at a club and you come back to face a reception like that it is really painful, but I think he handled it well.”
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