Kevin Phillips has told Sunderland that their loss is Aston Villa's gain.

Darren Bent's shock transfer from the Black Cats to Villa has hurt their campaign, the former Stadium of Light legend argued.

Phillips, who faces Sunderland at St Andrew's on Saturday for Birmingham City, said: "I believe that's one of the major factors.

"We all know Darren Bent knows where the net is and Sunderland have certainly missed that.

"I think they went three games without scoring a goal, before last weekend.

"So that just highlights the need for someone like Darren Bent.

"What he does for you, he plays on the shoulder of people. I don't think Sunderland have had that in the last few weeks.

"Asamoah Gyan's an excellent player but he does a lot of work in unnecessary places for me, whereas Darren Bent, all he wants to do is get in behind and score a goal.

"Every team needs that kind of player because, simply, they score you goals."

Villa's £24 million January raid came right out of the blue.

Bent has scored five times in nine games for them. Since his departure Sunderland have taken four points out of a possible 27.

Phillips said: "It was a bizarre one, wasn't it? It happened so quickly and I commented on it at the time and maybe said something I shouldn't have. But that was just a natural reaction.

"I was probably hurt as much as anything. Hurt and pleased in a way because if he had stayed, he would probably have gone on and broken all my records!

"Villa have certainly got a goalscorer. When you are down in the regions of the league where we are, you need a goalscorer to get you out if it and he has chipped in with a few goals for Villa."

Phillips said that Sunderland were well aware how big the Blues game was after their recent nosedive.

"I spoke to Niall Quinn three or four weeks ago and he was asked the question about making Europe or looking over his shoulder and he said 'I’m looking over my shoulder' and he’s certainly doing that now.

"Especially if we beat them at the weekend it drags them in. They’ve already admitted they’re in a scrap.

"We certainly believe we can win the game and drag them further down.

"Whether that’s something I want to see . . . ? I’d certainly like to see them climb the league.

"At the start of the season they did exceptionally well and I believe they did a similar thing last season and towards the back end they fell away dramatically. So it’s a big game for them at the weekend."