Christian Benteke: 'Every point crucial' as Aston Villa bid to avoid Premier League relegation

Villa striker's hat-trick could prove the difference between relegation and end-of-season survival

Teddy Cutler
Wednesday 08 April 2015 05:10 EDT
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Christian Benteke believes his hat-trick could prove vital to Villa's survival chances
Christian Benteke believes his hat-trick could prove vital to Villa's survival chances (GETTY IMAGES)

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Christian Benteke insists Aston Villa should not be disappointed with a point after his hat-trick rescued the game against Queens Park Rangers.

The Belgian's 83rd-minute free kick sailed past Rob Green and into the bottom corner to rescue Villa a draw in a crucial game at the bottom of the Premier League that they had led.

And Benteke, who has seven goals in his last five appearances under Tim Sherwood at the tail end of an injury-hit season, believes the draw could yet prove vital in Villa's attempts to beat the drop.

"Of course we wanted more than a point. It is always nice to get a hat-trick but it is shame we didn't get the three points. I think we deserved three points - we were better than them," Benteke said.

"We know it is a hard situation and that every point is crucial. We have just got to keep fighting.

"Every game in England is hard. But we are going to fight until the end."

His goalscoring feats have left manager Sherwood struggling to work out why Villa have struggled so badly for goals.

"I can't understand why this team only scored 12 goals before I came to the club - it's a head scratcher really," said Sherwood.

"Maybe that's the only reason they've only won three times here this season. It's incredible for players with that sort of strike rate."

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