Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson insists he is not ready to drop struggling forward Christian Benteke.

The Belgian, who only scored three goals last season, missed several chances in Saturday's 2-0 home loss to Southampton.

Hodgson said: "Of course the moment may well come when we think, 'Better do something about this'.

"And, as we get players back fit like Wilf Zaha and (James) Tomkins, the options will become greater.

"It depends what your options are, doesn't it? We still consider [Benteke] to be our best option in that position.

"Had we had other options, maybe we might have considered those too.

"All the time he is working as hard as he is and trying as hard, it might not be the right moment (to make a change).

"We encourage him as best we can. We encourage him to concentrate hard on the things he can do.We encourage him to realise that it is not just about scoring goals.

"There are other things he needs to do to make us a successful team and get us points. We do all the things any sensible manager and coaching staff would do.

"If he goes away with Belgium [during the international football break], maybe gets a chance to play in one of the games, scores a couple of goals, that would be great for us."