Aston Villa will reportedly stop Darren Bent leaving the club to sign for a relegation rival in January, even if it means selling him for less in the summer.
Bent has struggled to gain a place in Paul Lambert's starting XI this season, with the Villa boss preferring to play Andreas Weimann off lone striker Christian Benteke.
Reading and Queens Park Rangers are both in the marker for a striker and have expressed an interest but have been put off by Villa's high valuation of a player they paid £24m for, according to The Mirror.
The 28-year-old was out injured yesterday as Villa dropped into the bottom three with a 1-0 home defeat to Southampton.
