Aston Villa midfielder Marc Albrighton has paid tribute to teammate Darren Bent for the way he has reacted since being dropped by Paul Lambert.

The England striker has endured a disappointing start to the campaign, and found himself among the substitutes against West Bromwich Albion despite scoring against Southampton in their previous outing.

However, Bent came off the bench to snatch an equaliser for the Villans, and Albrighton believes that the 28-year-old has taken well to being dropped from the first team.

"Bent is a professional," Albrighton told talkSPORT.

"People in top teams get dropped all the time. It's just good now for Aston Villa football club that we've got four class strikers.

"We've got Andreas Weimann on the bench as well today. It just shows we've got good options all over the place."

Villa were beaten 2-0 at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.