Former Ipswich Town striker Darren Bent has named a pair of Blues stars among a side of his best-ever team-mates - an XI boasting the likes of Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and Ashley Cole.

Bent, now 38, made his name at Town as a youngster, scoring 55 goals in 141 games before signing for Charlton for £2.5m in June 2005.

He went on to enjoy a glittering career at the top level, playing for the likes of Spurs, Sunderland, Aston Villa and Derby County before retiring in 2018.

Bent played 13 times for England too, scoring four goals - so he has a wealth of options to choose from when selecting the best players he ever played with.

East Anglian Daily Times: Darren Bent scored 55 goals for IpswichDarren Bent scored 55 goals for Ipswich (Image: PA Archive/PA Images)

It's perhaps surprising then, that he included two former Town colleagues in his 'Perfect XI' for football magazine FourFourTwo.

Alongside the likes of Rooney, Gerrard, Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Luka Modric and Dimitar Berbatov, Bent names Darren Ambrose as his right midfielder, and picks George Burley to manage the side.

Of Ambrose, with whom he now works as a pundit on talkSPORT, Bent said: “He was my favourite team-mate during my youth and first-team days at Ipswich.

East Anglian Daily Times: Darren Bent (left) and Darren Ambrose were Macauley Bonne's Ipswich Town heroes growing up.Darren Bent (left) and Darren Ambrose were Macauley Bonne's Ipswich Town heroes growing up. (Image: Archant)

"Every time Darren received the ball, he found me. He helped me massively and made my job a lot easier, because he knew exactly where I was going to be and I knew exactly where he’d put the ball.

"He could score wonder goals for fun as well. Look at his archive of goals, it’s outrageous.”

East Anglian Daily Times: George Burley celebrates victory at Wembley. Picture: ARCHANTGeorge Burley celebrates victory at Wembley. Picture: ARCHANT (Image: Archant)

Explaining his Burley pick, Bent added: "Ideally I’d have two, to include Alan Curbishley as well.

"George gave me my debut and believed in me at Ipswich. Alan was the same at Charlton when he brought me into the Premier League.”

Darren Bent's 'Perfect XI' (4-4-2): Scott Carson, Glenn Johnson, Ledley King, Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole; Darren Ambrose, Steven Gerrard, Luka Modric, Ashley Young; Dimitar Berbatov, Wayne Rooney.

Subs: Frank Lampard, John Terry, Danny Murphy