Injured Crystal Palace striker Christian Benteke is ahead of schedule in his recovery but poses a selection dilemma to Roy Hodgson.
Christian Benteke hopes to be back in contention for Crystal Palace selection within a few weeks.
The Belgian has missed Palace’s last two matches with a knee ligament injury which was expected to sideline him until the middle of November, according to the Daily Star.
However, Benteke feels positive about his recovery and is optimistic of returning ahead of schedule.
He is quoted by the Daily Star as saying: “The rehab is going really well and I am really happy with the way that my ligament is healing. I hope and I feel like I can be back in a few weeks.”
Having Benteke available again would be a boost for Roy Hodgson, who has had no recognised striker to pick from with Connor Wickham also sidelined.
But the ex-England boss might want to continue with the experiment of Wilfried Zaha and Andros Townsend up front.
Hodgson used the pace of the wingers to pull off a shock 2-1 win over Chelsea last weekend – Palace’s first victory and goals of the Premier League season.
James McArthur and Jeffrey Schlupp were used in compact wide roles which made Palace more difficult to break down.
Zaha and Townsend would not be suited to that defensive task, but might offer the Eagles more going forward than Benteke, who only has one goal in his last 11 games and can be a passenger when he is not scoring.
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