Allardyce applauds Benteke’s sacrifices at Palace

Sam Allardyce has paid tribute to striker Christian Benteke for the sacrifice he has made at Crystal Palace this season, admitting the Belgian has suffered by the Eagles’ desire to spread chances around.

Benteke arrived at Selhurst Park last summer from Liverpool and has scored nine goals in the league so far this season.

That’s the same number he managed in a year with Liverpool, but he has been unable to rediscover the prolific form that saw him reach double figures in each of his three seasons at Aston Villa, including 19 in his first.

But at Palace he has had to be patient when it comes to getting chances and Allardyce believes it’s a mark of the 26-year-old that he has been willing to put the team’s needs before his own.

He said: “He’s had to make a sacrifice in that the goals have not been quite as fluent for him as they were before I arrived. Him using the word ‘sacrifice’ is nice to hear because it shows that he’s not selfish.

“He’s disappointed that he’s not scoring goals at the moment but I wouldn’t say it’s because of my over-defensive tactics but it’s more that we have to get better in the final third creating chances, not just for him but all the team. We get there but I don’t think we’re as creative or as clinical as we should be.

“From Christian’s point, it’s very frustrating for him because he hasn’t put the ball in the back of the net since Bournemouth. He’s had opportunities and they’ve come and gone, and hopefully they will arrive at the right time for us, which is in the next ten games.

“If we are to stay up then we need to get Christian scoring again, and I would hope he could bag five or six goals in the next 10 games to try and help the problem we’re in.”