Reading manager Paul Clement has launched an extraordinary attack on Darren Bent, calling the former England striker “overweight and lazy”.

Clement was hitting back at Bent’s claim that he was destined to fail when he was in charge in Derby, in a war of words that has escalated at an alarming rate.

Bent was signed by Clement for the Rams in the summer of 2015, and made 17 appearances under him before the former Real Madrid assistant manager was sacked after just eight months in charge.

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Speaking as a TV pundit during Derby’s clash with Clement’s Reading on Friday night, Bent remembered those times.

“It was inevitable he was going to crumble (at Derby),” Bent said. “Training had changed and his philosophy from pre-season had gone out the window because we weren’t getting the right results. And ultimately he didn’t really like confrontation.”

Clement wasted no time responding to those comments, as he took to Twitter on Saturday morning.

“I sense some bitterness here, which is normal if a player does not play much,” he wrote.

“It is never a difficult decision to leave out a player who is overweight and lazy.”

Derby were fifth in the Championship when Clement was given the boot, but chairman Mel Morris said at the time the club had “not made enough progress” during his time in the dugout.

Derby, in Frank Lampard’s first game in charge, beat Reading 2-1 on Friday in the opening game of the new Championship season.