"He has been good all along, his training performances have always been professional, he always comes to training to give his best even when things weren't going as well as they are currently with his two goals," Hodgson said.

"We are delighted for him to get that little bit of success, we hope now he is going to build on it.

"He has been very good, it would be nice if every comment about Benteke wasn't prefaced with the fact he had played so many games without a goal, it would be nice to say Benteke is doing well with that preface.

"I can't change that, he can't change that, what he is doing now is what matters.

"What he did in training led me to wanting to put him back in the team and him taking his chances against West Brom is all positive news.

"He is a quality centre-forward with a lot of strings to his bow so it was great last Sunday that he was able to show the world that."

Palace are likely to find it tougher when Jose Mourinho brings his side to Selhurst Park on Sunday where a win is likely to ensure they remain at the top of the standings.

Mourinho has been at pains to say Spurs are not title challengers, despite their lofty position, and Hodgson cannot blame his colleague.

"At the moment after 11 games there are a lot of serious contenders, they have all got to fancy their chances that if luck goes there way and they can get momentum then it could be their year," the 73-year-old added.

"If I was in Jose's position I would still be looking at Liverpool and Manchester City as two very strong nuts to crack, Chelsea are also doing well, there is a lot of teams sticking their noses in and I can understand why managers are reluctant to make any statements that this is their year."