MX23RW : Wednesday, November 27 22:00:34| >> :60:1147:1147:

Paul Lambert: 'Aston Villa found Christian Benteke by chance'

Lambert: 'Villa found Benteke by chance'
© PA Photos
Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert admits that he discovered striker Christian Benteke by chance.

Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert has admitted that he only discovered Christian Benteke by chance.

The Belgium striker has been in impressive form this season, scoring 15 goals for the Villa Park outfit since joining from Genk last summer.

However, Lambert has revealed that he was not intending to watch the 22-year-old when he travelled to Genk for a scouting mission.

"We signed him because I thought we needed a striker like him at the club," Metro quotes Lambert as saying. "I felt we needed a targetman so we looked around and saw Christian playing at Genk.

"He actually played with a strike partner that we looked at beforehand. We were looking across several different leagues at people but went back to watch Christian again and things moved from there.

"We watched him more and one of the scouts saw him playing for Belgium and we decided to take a chance."

Villa currently sit 18th in the Premier League table.

ID:72411: cacheID:72411:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:1900:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Villa boss Paul Lambert watches on against Swansea on January 1, 2013
Read Next:
Lambert: 'Team morale is strong'
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool1210112481631
2Manchester CityMan City127232217523
3Chelsea126422314922
4Arsenal126422112922
5Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton126422116522
6Tottenham HotspurSpurs1261527131419
7Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest125431513219
8Aston Villa125431919019
9Fulham125341717018
10Newcastle UnitedNewcastle125341313018
11Brentford125252222017
12Manchester UnitedMan Utd124441313016
13Bournemouth124351617-115
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham124351519-415
15Everton122551017-711
16Leicester CityLeicester122461523-810
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves122372028-89
18Ipswich TownIpswich121651323-109
19Crystal Palace121561017-78
20Southampton121110924-154


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!