The Eagles manager was left impressed by Benteke’s debut at Selhurst Park and insists there are no concerns over his fitness.
Crystal Palace’s Christian Benteke
Crystal Palace boss Alan Pardew has played down any injury concerns over new signing Christian Benteke, BBC Sport has reported.
Benteke, who completed a big-money move to Selhurst Park last week, was substituted at half-time during the Eagles’ 2-0 EFL Cup win over Blackpool on Tuesday, but Pardew was quick to ease any concerns over the striker’s fitness, telling reporters after the game that the change was made as a precaution.
He added that he was impressed by performance of the 25-year-old and that of new goalkeeper Steve Mandanda.
According to BBC Sport, Pardew said: “We’re through, we’ve picked up no injuries and we saw a couple of good debuts.
“Christian Benteke showed why we paid a record fee and Steve Mandanda showed why he was Marseille captain.
“We erred on the side of caution tonight with Christian. He’s still getting up to speed.”
A largely comfortable evening saw centre-back Scott Dann open the scoring on 25 minutes after pouncing on Andros Townsend’s impressive cross.
The win was then wrapped up courtesy of Benteke’s replacement, Connor Wickham, two minutes after half-time – the former Sunderland striker producing a cool finish to convert Jason Puncheon’s cross to send his side into the hat for the next round.
The win will ease some of the pressure on Pardew, who has overseen just two league victories at the club in 2016.
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