Marcus Bent's inside track for Wolves

Marcus Bent has warned Wolves they face a Notts County team in the same mould as themselves - and the striker speaks from experience.

Bent was a team-mate of County boss Craig Short at Blackburn from 2000-01 and knows he will have his side well-drilled at Molineux for the third round tie tonight.

He said: "Notts County will come with nothing to lose. I played with their manager at Blackburn a and I know he'll instil a lot of toughness and hard work into his team.

"But we're the Premier League side and we have got to take it to them.

"It will be a hard game but I'm confident we can come through it and get into the next round."

Bent makes his first start for Wolves alongside Sylvan Ebanks-Blake after his loan move from Birmingham and the 32-year-old is determined to put pressure on the other strikers.

He said: "I've played in the Premier League for a good number of years and scored goals.

"I know what it's about. I'm not saying I'm coming in here to take anyone's place but I'm working as hard as I can for Wolves and my team-mates.

"My one and only target at the moment is to get fit or get into the first team. That might be from doing well tonight and scoring goals or from coming on as a substitute and taking my chance. It's about pushing the boys in the first team and vice versa.

"It's healthy competition, when that happens because it keeps everyone on their toes and wanting to do their best to achieve something and move on."

But Bent does rates his striking rivals highly.

He said: "I'd seen Sylvan the season when Wolves and Birmingham were in the Championship and Doyle at Reading.

"Kevin Doyle has got every attribute you need for a striker, Sylvan is exciting and a goalscorer and a poacher, and you can see just from watching Steven Fletcher train the quality he's got.

"They've all got their own talents, so it's going to be exciting trying to get in the side."

Nevertheless, Bent is looking forward to putting himself firmly in boss Mick McCarthy's thoughts after finally overcoming his hamstring nightmare.

He said: "It will be good to get playing again and get my fitness going and hopefully pushing my way into the first team.

"I had some hamstring problems last year - I think I tore it four times, but we got to the bottom of it and now I'm raring to go.

"I've seen two games and they've not been the results we'd have wanted, but we've scored first in both and taken some good stuff from the games."