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Roy Hodgson says Crystal Palace forward Christian Benteke is working hard

Christian Benteke has scored just two goals for Crystal Palace this season

Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson says the time may not be right to drop Christian Benteke.

But Hodgson admits that he may have a rethink if the struggling forward does not start finding the net.

Benteke, 27, became Palace's club-record signing when arriving from Liverpool for £27m in 2016 but, after a bright start to life with the Eagles, he only scored three goals last season.

He missed several chances during Saturday's 2-0 defeat by Southampton at Selhurst Park.

Hodgson said: "Of course the moment may well come when we think, 'Better do something about this'.

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Highlights: Crystal Palace 0-2 Southampton

"And, as we get players back fit like Wilf Zaha and (James) Tomkins, the options will become greater.

"It depends what your options are, doesn't it? We still consider [Benteke] to be our best option in that position.

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"Had we had other options, maybe we might have considered those too.

"All the time he is working as hard as he is and trying as hard, it might not be the right moment (to make a change).

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Christian Benteke squandered a number of goalscoring opportunities against Southampton

"We encourage him as best we can. We encourage him to concentrate hard on the things he can do.We encourage him to realise that it is not just about scoring goals.

"There are other things he needs to do to make us a successful team and get us points. We do all the things any sensible manager and coaching staff would do.

"If he goes away with Belgium [during the international football break], maybe gets a chance to play in one of the games, scores a couple of goals, that would be great for us."

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