Darren Bent has apologised to fans after he was criticised for going shopping while Aston Villa were playing Liverpool yesterday.

Fans reacted angrily to a picture posted online which appears to show the England star on a shopping trip instead of at Villa Park, where his team evenually lost 2-0 to Liverpool.

"Nothing is more important to me than playing football. Sadly injury meant I wasn't able to do that today. Gutted not to be involved," Bent said on Twitter.

"I hope to be back very soon. Watched the majority of the game on TV. Never knew popping out would cause an issue and for that I apologise."

Bent was out of the game with injury, and Villa boss Alex McLeish says that there are no underlying reasons for the stiker being left out.

"He has a thigh-cum-groin strain. He did it the other day," McLeish said.

"He came off the pitch on Tuesday immediately after he had a shot at goal. I knew then.

"I don't know why there's a conspiracy theory. Do you think I would leave Darren Bent out of this game?"

Aston Villa are currently 10th in the Premier League with 19 points from 16 games.