Sunderland still have work to do - Darren Bent

Bent (right) has scored 20 league goals for the first time in his career

Sunderland striker Darren Bent has warned his team-mates there is still work to be done in securing their Premier League status this season.

The Wearsiders are ten points clear of the relegation zone but with Aston Villa and Liverpool in opposition in the next two games Bent urges caution.

"We know how quickly it can change," Bent told BBC Newcastle.

"We're under no illusions, we've got some really hard games coming up but if we stay together we can get something."

Bent added: "A couple of games ago we were looking over our shoulders and everyone's panicking, but then we got a few wins and people seem to be calm."

Sunderland are currently unbeaten in four, with two wins and two draws in that time, and have risen to 13th place in the top flight table.

Meanwhile Bent found himself paired with Zimbabwe striker Benjani Mwaruwari, on-loan from Manchester City, in the Black Cats attack in Saturday's 3-1 defeat of Birmingham City at the Stadium of Light.

And Bent admitted there is strength in depth within the attacking areas, particularly when Trinidad and Tobago forward Kenwyne Jones completes his return from a calf strain.

"He [Benjani] played really really well, he's been in good form, and he's been looking really sharp in training," Bent said of the former City forward.

"He got his opportunity and he did really well, although Kenwyne [Jones] since January has been doing really well and his all round play has been fantastic and it wouldn't surprise me if he didn't come straight back in."

Bent's brace against Birmingham took his tally for the season to 21 in just 32 games in all competitions, with 20 of those strikes coming in the league.

The former Tottenham Hotspur striker joined Sunderland during the summer of 2009 for a club record fee of £10m, potentially rising up to £16.5m.