Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke admits a growth spurt had people questioning his age as a junior.

The 6ft 3in Belgium ace, who has leapt ahead of Darren Bent as Villa's striking spearhead, admits it almost came at a hefty cost.

"All I ever wanted to do was be a striker," said Benteke, 21, whose youth teams included Standard Liege and Genk - the side Villa signed him from.

"I used to score lots of goals but that wasn't surprising because I was taller than everybody else.

"I grew very quickly but it sometimes posed a problem.

"When we played against other clubs I often had to show my identity card because they didn't believe my age! They thought I was older than I actually was."