I BACK BIG BEN TO STRIKE SOON SAYS HODGSON
April 21 against Arsenal.
That was his only goal last season. But after watching him impress on Monday night against Brighton, Hodgson has backed the 29-year-old (above, with Wilfried Zaha) to end his drought at Newcastle today. “He’s working hard, and he’s been doing that for a while,” said Palace boss Hodgson.
“It’s good to see him back in the team, I’ve never doubted his desire to work hard for the team, or his desire to do well.
“It’s just as a centreforward you’re in the same sharp focus as a goalkeeper. One makes an error at one end and it’s written about for weeks on end. One misses a goal at the other end...and I think he’s suffered from that.”
Benteke was prolific for Aston Villa but the goals dried up when he moved to Liverpool in 2015.
“It’s true, he hasn’t scored the amount of goals he would have liked to score,” added Hodgson. “But he can score goals, no question about that. You
see him in
training all the time and he can be a very effective centre-forward in terms of his all-round play.”
Patrick van Aanholt may feature for Palace but fellow defender Scott Dann needs a calf scan.
Hodgson has voiced his frustration with American owners Joshua Harris and David Blitzer over transfer funds. But he said that they and chairman Steve Round are still in discussions over the January transfer window.
He added: “I think the American owners, and Steve in particular, have been discussing for a long time what possibilities there might be of money being released so I don’t think anything has changed in that respect.
“I am thinking more of Steve and sporting director Dougie Freedman being on the same page because they are the ones that I deal with.”