Southampton are a goal down to Aston Villa at St Mary's at half-time after Darren Bent put an end to a seven-month Premier League goal drought.

The Saints threatened the Villa goal in the opening stages, with chances falling to Rickie Lambert and Steven Davis, neither of whom could find the target.

Nigel Adkins's side had the better of the early possession, but fell behind when Bent took advantage of poor defending to score his first Premier League goal since February.

Southampton looked shaken by the goal, and struggled to create any significant chances of their own before the referee brought the half to an end.