Bent has scored 16 goals for Sunderland this season

Sunderland striker Darren Bent remains positive that the club can pull clear of Premier League relegation trouble.

The Wearsiders are just three points off the relegation zone and have not won in their six games since beating non-league side Barrow on 2 January.

"We all know the predicament we're in but we're good enough to get out of it," Bent told BBC Newcastle.

"We were playing some good football at times and we've shown signs that we can get out of this slump."

Bent has been prolific this season, scoring 16 goals in 27 games following his summer switch from Tottenham, but they have suffered a terrible run of injuries at the other end of the field.

Defenders Michael Turner, John Mensah, Anton Ferdinand, George McCartney and Phil Bardsley have all been absent this season, but Bent thinks things will improve once Steve Bruce can establish a settled defensive unit again.

"We've had a lot of injuries, I don't think the management haven't been able to field the back four two games in a row because of injury which has been unfortunate," Bent said.

"He's trying to work with his best back four, and hopefully once everyone's fit and stays fit, he can really work on a solid base and then we can get the structure we had at the start of the season."

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