article: Christian Benteke has revealed a secret. Despite what appeared cast-iron evidence to the contrary, he does not practise free-kicks. He has taken only a handful in his career. Yet with seven minutes to go in a game Aston Villa dared not lose, he stepped forward, pushing aside team-mates, to curl his dead-ball opportunity over the Queens Park Rangers wall and into the net. Precious point rescued. ‘I surprised myself!’ he says, laughing. ‘When I saw it, Charles N’Zogbia said, “I want to shoot”. But I said, “I want to take it”. Christian Benteke bends a free-kick over the QPR wall to rescue a point for Aston Villa last week . Benteke jumps for joy after sealing his hat-trick in the relegation battle with QPR at Villa Park . The Belgium striker admitted he even surprised himself by finding the back of the net with the free kick . ‘It wasn’t about the hat-trick, it was more about if I can take the free-kick or not, if I can hit the target. I have only taken one before for Villa, against Swansea, and I hit the post.’ What happens should a chance come from similar range against Liverpool? ‘I’ll take it. Sometimes you have to try.’ So speaks a striker of soaring confidence. Eight goals in his last six games, the latest a towering header to take all three points at Tottenham, Benteke is bang in form and relishing the prospect of an FA Cup semi-final. Sitting to discuss the match in a dressing room at Villa’s Bodymoor Heath training complex, he looks as if he would like to be on Wembley’s turf post-haste. He has been rejuvenated under Tim Sherwood, scoring a goal every 87 minutes since the new Villa manager took over. The unnerving thing for Liverpool is that he says he will get better. Benteke rises above Fererico Fazio to head the winning goal for Aston Villa against Tottenham on Saturday . Benteke points to the sky in celebration after scoring his eighth goal in six matches . Benteke is in the kind of form which could see Tim Sherwood's Villa escape from Premier League relegation . ‘I still think I can do more, in everything,’ he insists. ‘I can’t say I’m happy to be there now, I want to do more and more.’ That insatiable appetite is understandable after a disheartening year, starved first of football, then chances. It was April 3, 2014, when a loud crack was heard across Bodymoor’s training pitches signalling Benteke’s ruptured achilles. His World Cup dream was over. Parents Jean-Pierre and Marie-Claire cancelled their tickets to Brazil. Six months of rehabilitation followed before Benteke’s return last October. A red card on his third start against Tottenham kept him out for another brief period. There was a splendid goal at Crystal Palace, then another against Manchester United. A third came against Blackpool in the FA Cup third round. Dazzlingly good, but these strikes were isolated. Benteke never appeared his barnstorming self. His movement was limited, his impact negligible. Villa’s safety-first style was a significant factor. Often Benteke looked cut adrift up front. The nadir came when Paul Lambert dropped him to the bench for the visit of Chelsea in February. ‘It was frustrating because I knew I could do better,’ he says, reflecting on that moment. ‘Every time after the game I said to myself, “I can do better”. It was frustrating to play a game with no chances. But I am not that guy who is going to complain. I understood the situation.’ Sherwood’s impact has been immediate. Just as he did with Emmanuel Adebayor at Tottenham, he has taken a misfiring striker and recalibrated the shooting. Sherwood’s tactics are tailored to Benteke and his relentless positivity has awoken the inner beast. Benteke was forced to watch Belgium reach the quarter-final of the World Cup after rupturing his achilles . Benteke praised the impact of new manager Sherwood for playing a style that suits the striker's attributes . ‘He has given me a lot of freedom and he has said to the other lads to play maybe more direct with me,’ explains Benteke. ‘When a manager says that, you feel more important, more responsible. ‘The way that we play now is comfortable for me because I’m scoring and also for the team because I help the team.’ He is excited about his partnership with Gabby Agbonlahor. ‘He helps me destroy the defenders. With two we’re always better than one.’ Benteke is grateful to Lambert for bringing him to Villa from Genk in 2012 but acknowledges it was the correct call to sack the manager. ‘That’s a tough question,’ he pauses. ‘I will say yes because the confidence of the team was a little bit low and when the gaffer came he brought the confidence up.’ Benteke believes his fitness after such a long time out was an issue too but now he feels in peak condition. ‘I play like I used to before. I feel really good.’ Those summer weeks when he could only watch his nation’s World Cup adventure on TV are becoming a distant, if difficult, memory. Benteke is delighted with the partnership he has struck up with fellow striker Gabby Agbonlahor . The striker paid tribute to former manager Paul Lambert for signing him from Genk in 2012 . ‘It was tough,’ he says. ‘I worked hard for that opportunity. But that’s life. The manager Marc Wilmots said, “If you want, you can come with the lads.” But I didn’t. I came back to Belgium and my family helped get me through. My mum said, “You have to be thankful to God, it could have been worse”.’ Becoming a father to baby Jayden last September put things in perspective. ‘It was good, I forgot about my injury,’ he says, smiling. Doubts about his talent emerged during his troubles but he has faced down critics before. Three years ago Genk dismissed his Premier League credentials. ‘They said I wasn’t ready because the level between Belgium and England is really high and I should stay one more season. But I said, “No, I am confident, I want to go”. I don’t really listen to what people say. If I feel it, I just do it. But Benteke concedes that sacking Lambert was the correct decision after the lift Sherwood has given them . Chelsea midfielder and compatriot Eden Hazard tweeted his admiration for Benteke after his Spurs winner . ‘It was my dream to play in the best league. I was a fan of Arsenal.’ He insists he is not dreaming of scoring at Wembley. ‘I don’t want a dream, I want to do it.’ He is not that close to compatriot Simon Mignolet but is good friends with Marouane Fellaini and Eden Hazard. ‘I have known them since I was really young.’ Hazard tweeted his admiration following Benteke’s goal at Spurs. ‘He is my brother, like you say. For me, he deserves to be the Player of the Year.’ Benteke will consider what he deserves in the summer. Wolfsburg have been keeping tabs on him. ‘Since I came I have had a lot of pressure here,’ he says. ‘If I want to one day, after say four or five years, be with the big club, then it is pressure every time also.’ He ultimately wants European football. That will come for Villa by reaching the final, should Arsenal also qualify. ‘I think this is the beauty of the FA Cup, now everything is possible,’ he says.
highlights: Aston Villa face Liverpool at Wembley in the FA Cup semi-final on Sunday .
  Liverpool will have to keep Villa's in-form Christian Benteke quiet .
  The Belgium international has scored eight goals in six games for Villa .
  Striker says that new manager Tim Sherwood has given him freedom .
  Benteke struggled for form earlier this season after recovering from injury .
  A year ago he ruptured his achilles and missed the World Cup .
  Benteke returned in October but did not hit top gear straight away .
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