London: Darren Bent has refuted Felix Magath’s suggestion that he is not fit to warrant inclusion in the Fulham first team and expressed disappointment at the peripheral role he has been playing while on loan at the Premier League’s bottom club.

The former England striker arrived at Craven Cottage last summer after rejecting the chance to join Crystal Palace on a 12-month loan from Aston Villa. He has started only 10 league games all season under Martin Jol, Ren Meulensteen and Magath, and has not benefited from any game-time at all since the defeat at Cardiff on March 8 even in the absence of the record signing, Kostas Mitroglou.

Magath has preferred the youthful energy, enthusiasm and no little skill of Cauley Woodrow, Moussa Dembele and Patrick Roberts, a reflection of the consistent excellence of Fulham’s academy sides at under-18 and under-21 levels.

In explaining his decision not to use Bent against Everton on Sunday, Magath had said: “Darren had a problem on Thursday and he left the training session. It was better to put the players in who are really fit.”

Yet that explanation perplexed the 30-year-old, who is contracted to Villa until 2015. “I trained on Saturday,” Bent said. “I’d taken a knock and limped off quite early in training on Thursday but I’ve trained since and felt fine on Sunday. It is just disappointing. I was fine to play. I am disappointed not to feature, especially in games like the Everton match where you feel that you can definitely affect the game, when your team needs a goal. Over the years I have managed to produce quite a few of those.

“When the team got back to 1-1 you are thinking: ‘You can make a difference here.’ But once again it was not to be. That part is disappointing. When you are a substitute in any game, it is disappointing, but especially today [Sunday]. All I can do is stay positive and keep working. It is getting difficult to see how I can contribute now as I can’t play next week against Villa, because of the loan. I am here, up for selection and more than willing to play. That is what I do, that is what I love to do. That will never change. At this stage of the season you need goals. You need firepower. If I am called on, I am ready to go. If I start up front, I am ready to go.”

The defeat to Everton left Fulham at the foot of the table, five points from West Bromwich Albion in 17th place, with six games to play. Their hopes of extending their 13-year stay in the top flight look to be dependent on making a maximum return from their three remaining home games, against Norwich, Hull and Palace.

“It is going to be hard to stay up but we have still got to keep believing and keep working hard,” Bent said. “I thought we played well against Everton. There’s no reason why we can’t win four matches. Fulham have escaped over the years when they’ve been written off but people will have to step up.”