Aston Villa will be without Darren Bent for the rest of the season, and it is also highly likely that the England striker will be absent at the Euro 2012 in the summer.
The England forward suffered the injury in the match against Wigan recently. He injured his ankle ligaments and has now undergone an operation in order to recover as soon as possible.
Still, Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish is set to be without his star striker for the rest of the season and this comes as a major blow for Aston Villa and their hopes of making it into the top 10 of the table.
Aston Villa are currently down near the relegation zone, which has posed a lot of questions about manager Alex McLeish. Darren Bent is regarded to be a prolific scorer, who is capable of scoring goals on his own. Given that Aston Villa lack another striker of his quality, it will certainly be a struggle for Aston Villa when it comes to scoring goals come the business end of the season.
Villa are currently languishing down in the 15th position of the table, just a few points ahead of the relegation zone. The latest Premier League betting odds place Aston Villa as slim favourites to stay up, but they are still involved in the relegation dogfight, and in football anything can happen.
"Darren Bent underwent surgery tonight in a London clinic to repair ruptured ligaments in his left ankle. The operation was a complete success and it is expected that Darren will be able to resume full training in around 12 weeks," read a statement on the official website of the club.
This also comes as a major blow for the player, who was expecting to make it into the major tournament after having missed out on the last two editions. Darren Bent was not in the squad for the Euro 2006 and also for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.