Football in brief - Darren Bent: We need a hungry manager; Eric Abidal home from hospital; Fernando Torres recalled by Del Bosque

Darren Bent will miss England's friendly with Holland (GETTY IMAGES)

Bent : We need a hungry manager

Darren Bent, the Aston Villa and England striker, wants a hungry new manager who can bring stability and help move the club forward. The club have had talks with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the former Manchester United forward and current manager of Molde in Norway, about taking over from the sacked Alex McLeish.

"There's lots of clubs where the manager's been in charge for a while and you watch the club grow," Bent said. "Villa under Martin O'Neill finished sixth three years in a row and were on the up... A new manager will bring stability so that the club can move forward and grow."

Solskjaer, having spoken to Villa officials on Friday, returned to Molde to oversee a 2-0 victory over Sandnes Ulf. Although he remains the front-runner among bookmakers and fans, the Norwegian expects other candidates to enter the fray and is prepared to await Villa's next move.

Abidal home from hospital

The Barcelona defender Eric Abidal was released from hospital yesterday six weeks after having a liver transplant, the Spanish club said yesterday.

"Given the particular nature of this recovery process, Abidal will have to undergo regular hospital checkups," said a statement.

Barcelona have one more game left this season, the Copa del Rey final against Athletic Bilbao on Friday, their coach Pep Guardiola's last game at the helm.

Torres recalled by Del Bosque

Fernando Torres was yesterday recalled by Spain coach Vicente del Bosque, along with Chelsea team-mate Juan Mata for the preliminary squad ahead of this summer's European Championship.

The struggling Torres had been dropped for Spain's most recent friendly, but the striker managed to make the squad after Chelsea won the Champions League on Saturday.

The defending European champions began training yesterday for the tournament in Poland and Ukraine without players from Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao, the pair of whom will contest the Copa del Rey final on Friday.