Darren Bent has been forced to apologise to Aston Villa fans.

Bent apologised to Aston Villa fans last night after going shopping while his team were losing to Liverpool.

England star Bent missed the clash with an injury but came under fire on Twitter and Villa fans' sites after a picture of him out shopping yesterday was posted online.

Bent later apologised on Twitter, saying: "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 the game on TV. Never knew popping out would cause an issue and for that I apologise."