DARREN Bent’s continued importance to the claret and blue cause has been reiterated by two of Villa’s most promising young players.

Alex McLeish has repeatedly vowed that the club’s record signing will not be sold during the January transfer window despite persistent rumours about his future.

Speculation that Liverpool were pursuing the 27-year-old striker has been rubbished by McLeish and Anfield counterpart Kenny Dalglish after the pair spoke last week.

And Ciaran Clark and Marc Albrighton, who took some of the scoring burden off Bent with goals in the FA Cup win at Bristol Rovers on Saturday, are keen to see him stay.

Clark believes Bent can again have a major impact on Villa’s season after so far failing to hit the heights of his first campaign at the club.

Bent has scored 15 goals in 33 starts and one substitute appearance since joining Villa from Sunderland last January.

His strike rate this season is not as prolific as last term, but even so he has a ratio of around one-in-three for 2011-12 having found the net six times.

“He’s one of the best finishers in the league,” said Clark.

“His statistics bear that out.

“He’s a natural. We need players to finish off chances and Darren can do that.