Sunderland striker Darren Bent is eyeing off the Premiership's Golden Boot.

The 26-year-old has been a major hit on Wearside since his £10million summer escape from Tottenham, and has repaid manager Steve Bruce for his investment with 23 goals to date, 22 of them in the league.

That has left him trailing Manchester United and England's Wayne Rooney by just four and Chelsea's Didier Drogba by three.

Bent told the Sunderland Echo: "The one thing that disappointed me about last weekend was the missed penalties because if I had scored them, I would have been right in the mix with Rooney and Drogba.

"But I was happy to get two goals in a great win for us and it is definitely still a motivation for me to finish as the top scorer.

"If you can do that in this league, then you have made your mark.

"If it doesn't happen, then it wasn't meant to be. There are only five games left for me to get enough goals, but as long as I keep going, then I will give it a go.

"We have some winnable games, we are in form and the way the team is creating chances, I feel I can score in every game."