 In July 2012 , Bent was named interim captain of Aston Villa while Stiliyan Petrov continued to recover from leukaemia . On 28 August , he scored his first goal of the 2012 – 13 season in a 3 – 0 victory over League One Tranmere Rovers in the second round of the League Cup , his first goal for Villa since February 2012 . Bent lost the Villa captaincy to Ron Vlaar , after the Dutchman was appointed captain for the 2 – 0 victory against Swansea City on 15 September 2012 and thereafter . He scored his first league goal of the season on 22 September , in a 4 – 1 defeat away to Southampton . Bent then lost his starting place for the next league game against West Bromwich Albion , after the performances of Gabriel Agbonlahor and Christian Benteke during the midweek League Cup victory over Manchester City saw the pair start up front . However , after coming on for Benteke as a 68th @-@ minute substitute , Bent followed up his goal against Southampton by grabbing the equaliser in a 1 – 1 draw . 
