Sunderland boss Ricky Sbragia has admitted the club were considering a £10m bid for Tottenham striker Darren Bent. "I haven't really had much to do with that one," he told the Sunderland Echo.

"We were interested in him, but we weren't certain whether he was going to become available.

"Niall Quinn was involved in that one far more than I was.

"But I think maybe the Robbie Keane deal came through too late and maybe Spurs just decided they wanted to keep him."