Sunderland boss Steve Bruce insists there's no bad blood with Tottenham over Darren Bent's transfer saga.

Bruce reckons that both clubs and players have moved on and is quick to point out that there are plenty of other Spurs old boys at Sunderland.

"A lot of nonsense was written at the time about what was a delicate situation," said the Black Cats' boss to the Sunderland Echo.

"The guys in the media love a story and things tend to get blown out of proportion. At the end of the day, Darren wasn't playing regularly and there's always going to be a frustration there.

"He wanted to play more regularly. Myself and Harry Redknapp had many conversations about it over the summer and once we'd agreed a fee it was only a matter of time. I think Harry realised the fact that the boy was unhappy at not playing every week. I've had the same situation as a manager where some of my players are not happy at not playing.

"If they're not playing they're likely to be unhappy and they're going to want to be away. That was the situation with Darren but that's over now.

"And Darren isn't the only one going back - as well as him, there's Andy Reid, Steed Malbranque and Fraizer Campbell.

"Obviously Darren is going to be the most high profile but they have all been good players; good players for Tottenham and certainly very, very decent for us."