Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert has praised his board for keeping Christian Benteke.

Despite Benteke handing in a transfer request during the height of Andre Villas-Boas' pursuit, Villa stood firm.

"Randy Lerner and Paul Faulkner have been great and they left it to myself to decide what was happening," said Lambert. "They never said anything.

"I speak to Randy a lot and Paul every day. They trusted me, which is great."

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