Sunderland striker Darren Bent is confident his goalscoring form for his club can eventually push him into the England first team.

Bent has netted eight goals this season for the Black Cats after joining in the summer but has missed out on most England squads.

Despite being selected for the international friendly loss against Brazil on the weekend, Bent did not get much chance to impress manager Fabio Capello but believes he can push for chances by continuing to score goals for Sunderland.

"I can't go back to Sunderland and stop scoring and let my form drop because I won't get selected for any of the friendlies," he said.

"The main thing is for me to go back to Sunderland to keep working hard and make sure that I am not forgotten about.

"That's why club form is going to be so vital, especially for me anyway. I mean there are a lot of top quality strikers in England and I have to keep that Sunderland form going, keep my goal-scoring rate high and then I will give myself every possibility of going to South Africa.

"I must have a chance and there are chances for places (for strikers). It's obviously not like that for Wazza (Rooney) because he has been fantastic for such a long time now.

"But if I keep going and do my best then no-one can doubt me."