Aston Villa boss Tim Sherwood is backing Christian Benteke to rediscover his goalscoring touch in time to help fire Aston Villa to Premier League safety this season.

The 24-year-old Belgium international striker, who joined Villa from Genk in a £7million deal in summer 2012 and scored 23 goals in his first season at the club, has endured a disappointing campaign to date.

Having recovered from a ruptured Achilles tendon which he suffered at the back end of last season and forced him to miss the World Cup in Brazil, Benteke has so far scored two Premier League goals this term and has not found the net in 10 outings.

His poor form has coincided with Villa not winning in 11 league matches which has left them in the relegation zone.

However Sherwood has been watching Benteke in training this week and feels it is only a matter of time before he starts hitting the back of the net.

He said: “He’s been very good and he certainly wants to improve.

“He was the last out on the training field as he’s been trying to improve his finishing and build some confidence.
“He wants to work hard and recapture some of the form that we all know from before.”

Benteke will look to break his duck in Saturday afternoon’s trip to Newcastle with Villa 3.84 to win, while the hosts are 1.96 and the draw is 3.34.