Christian Benteke has thanked Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood for the morale-boosting talk he gave upon his arrival at Villa Park.

In his first week at the club, Sherwood invited Benteke into his office for a pep talk, where the Belgian was reminded it was not so long ago that he was the subject of interest from a number of big clubs around Europe.

"It was great to hear those things," Benteke said. "He has given me a lot of freedom, a lot of responsibility and he has said to the other lads to play maybe more forwards and direct with me.

"When a manager says that you feel more important. I know I'm a good player. I just have to show it."

Benteke's output under Sherwood has led directly to some decent results for Villa as he has scored eight goals in his last six appearances.