Derby County manager Steve McClaren has heaped praise on striker Darren Bent after the Aston Villa loanee found the net twice during his side's 4-0 win over Blackpool.

The forward has scored 12 times in 15 matches since joining the club in January, and the former England boss was keen to laud his current form.

"Thank heaven we managed to get him on loan from Villa in January. He's been phenomenal for us," Sky Sports News quotes McClaren as saying.

"Unfortunately we lost both Darren and Chris Martin for five games and that cost us heavily. Another half dozen points from that spell and look where we'd be now."

McClaren went on to say that his side thoroughly deserved maximum points against Championship basement club Blackpool.

"We kept a clean sheet, we worked, we passed and moved, we played at a good tempo and we got our reward," he added.

The result keeps Derby's playoff aspirations alive, moving them up to fifth place in the league table.