Darren Bent admits he was relieved with his hat-trick for Sunderland in their 4-0 thrashing over Bolton Wanderers.

Bent has not set himself any goals target for the season, but is now just one away from the 20 mark which defines the better strikers, although his exploits in midweek earned him a few text message from exasperated friends.

Bent said: "A few people texted me and said, 'I have taken you out of my Dream Team and look what you have started doing'.

"In the last couple of weeks, I felt I had been a bit below par and not at my best, so it was nice to get back to form.

"Every striker I know wants to get to 20 goals, but my main objective was just to score as many as possible and help Sunderland have a really good season.

"That's all I'm asking for."