Benteke knows Belgium have to deliver now

Gibraltar, going on to score a hattrick in a 6-0 win in qualifying.

Injury and a drop in form have limited automatic selection since, but it would be a surprise if he missed the World Cup.

Martinez explained he wanted to experiment for a friendly against Saudi Arabia this Tuesday.

The former Everton boss stated: “Christian stays in the picture but I want to try new players in this game. We know Christian well, he is just not with us this time.”

Benteke trusts the methods of Martinez, who replaced Marc Wilmots after a poor Euro 2016. He added: “Martinez is tactically more aware, we play three at the back and he’s got it in his DNA the Spanish style of football and with the players we’ve got, everyone is happy.”

First, though, he has to fight to help Palace avoid the drop – as well as not drown in the sea of Belgian talent thriving in England.

Motivation

Saturday’s match against Liverpool could pit him against England internationals Joe Gomez, Adam Lallana, Alex OxladeChamberlain and Jordan Henderson. But he insists top-flight experience will not help Belgium when they play England in June. He said: “A World Cup is still a World Cup so the motivation is going to be 100 per cent for each team we play. “It’s going to be interesting to play against England, but also against the other teams in the group. The World Cup is why we are playing. “My dream was to play here in England first but my other dream was to play at a World Cup. It’s going to be a big event for me and for my family and for everyone who supports us.”