I have nothing to prove at Birmingham City says Marcus Bent

Jul 20 2008 By Colin Tattum

Marcus Bent last night claimed he had nothing to prove after joining Blues, the 11th club of his career.And the s1 million signing from Charlton said he considered himself a Premier League player - where he believes he will be strutting his stuff next season with Alex McLeishs men.

Its not about letting people know Im still here, or Ive still got something to offer, said the striker, 30. I did quite well in the Premier League last year at Wigan. I felt that not so much I proved anything to myself or anybody else but that I was able to go and compete with the best.

Birmingham got relegated but they had a strong squad and were a bit naive at times, same as Wigan were.

Theyve come down and probably learned from that. So we will take that, and what weve all learned, into the Championship and thrive on it.

Were not going to walk over teams because its a very hard league and its going to be a massive season. But we will take that knowledge and put it to good use on the pitch.

Excited

Bent is set to make his Blues debut in tonights final game of the Austria tour against FC Nurnberg at Zell am See in the Tirol.

He ended as Wigans Premier League top-scorer last season two of his seven goals came at St Andrews against Blues from 25 starts. No permanent deal was sorted out with Steve Bruces Latics and Bent returned to the Valley, where he was put up for grabs in order to generate cash and save on wages.

I wish I could have played more last season, but thats football, he said. Coming to Birmingham, Im excited about the move. The manager didnt really need to say anything to convince me to come.

From the few days Ive had out here, I can see the boys are ready for it and its all in place to go back up. Birmingham have got it set up, theyve got it lined up and are trying to do it the right way.

Blues have won both their previous games here in the Kitzbuhel Alps, 7-0 against Kirchberg and 3-1 against FC Viktoria Plzen.

Bent will probably come off the bench for Blues tonight, and manager Alex McLeish also has James McFadden available again after a septic toe forced him to sit out Thursdays impressive victory.