Benteke urges cup-final approach

Christian Benteke has urged his Aston Villa team-mates to take a cup-final approach to their remaining 10 Premier League fixtures.

Villa are six points clear of the relegation zone but will take a degree of comfort from the fact that six sides sit between themselves and the bottom three.

And Belgium striker Benteke has vowed to kick on from his two-goal haul against Norwich City last time out and help fire Villa to safety as soon as possible.

“I just try to help the team and if I can score every game it’s good,” he is quoted as saying by the Daily Star. “We have to treat these 10 games like cup finals.

“We have to do everything to produce 10 good performances and we’ll see where it leaves us.

“But the most important thing for me is the team and to try and win every game.”

Benteke is likely to be part of the Belgium squad that heads to Brazil for the FIFA World Cup in June, but the forward insist that he will not allow it to be a distraction.

“I’ve been away with Belgium playing Ivory Coast and it got me in the mood for it,” he added. “It’s going to be a great experience and we’ve got to be ready for that. We still have a few games to go and we have to see what happens.

“I’m not thinking about the World Cup just now. My focus is on Villa first. I want to finish the season well and after that we will see what happens.

“Coming back after international duty and you can see in training that the confidence of the lads is high. Now I’m hoping we can bring this confidence into the game with Chelsea.”