The Big Interview Christian Benteke

Hitman owes his success to Lambert’s show of faith.

Christian Benteke is just about to depart Aston Villa’s training ground as he prepares to head off on international duty.

The Belgian internationalist is joined by his team-mates in the canteen area of the complex following their final training session before they travel to meet up with their respective national teams.

Slowly but surely, they begin to filter out and Benteke stands up and heads for the exit.

At 6ft 3in, he isn’t the type to manage to sneak out unnoticed and he fails to evade his manager Paul Lambert.

While the rest have been wished good luck on their travels, the man who will line up against Scotland at Hampden Park on Friday night is warned to leave his shooting boots behind.

It is, of course, the usual manager-player banter but Benteke knows he has the Scotsman to thank for helping provide him with the platform to become one of the top strikers in world football.

But that won’t stop him from trying to break Scottish hearts at Hampden Park on Friday night when he lines up for Belgium.

The 22-year-old was handed the opportunity to star in the Barclays Premier League when Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert landed him in a £7-million deal from Genk last summer.

And despite knowing he runs the risk of receiving more stick on his return to Villa if he helps inflict defeat on his manager’s nation, Benteke has nothing but good things to say about Lambert.

“He has been great with me,” smiled Benteke. “He was the one who showed the faith in me to bring me to England and I’m very grateful to him for giving me that opportunity.

“I’m sure if you were to ask any of the players here at Aston Villa they would all tell you they enjoy working with him.

“He can be good fun during the week and training but he also commands the respect of all the players.

“From a personal point of view, he has always encouraged me and given me all the confidence I need to go out and play to the best of my ability.

“I was pleased to score the amount of goals I did last season because it was my first year playing in England and the gaffer was constantly pushing me and getting the best out of me.

“We have a young, exciting team at Aston Villa and it is enjoyable playing for a manager who allows you to express yourself. I can’t really speak highly enough of him for what he has done for me.”

But his respect for Lambert won’t prevent him from giving his all to upset him on Friday evening.

“I suppose he might have something to say to me when I get back to the training ground,” laughed Benteke. “We had a laugh about it the last time I faced Scotland and scored.

“The gaffer has already told me he is coming to the game but he knows I have a job to do.”

Having netted 19 goals in his first season at Villa, Benteke has quickly become one of the most sought after strikers in Europe.

He was linked with summer moves to Borussia Dortmund, Atletico Madrid and Spurs but Lambert managed to convince him to remain at Villa Park and signed him up on a new deal.

And with four goals in his first four games of the new campaign, it looks as though Benteke could indeed better that tally this term.

With only Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi finding the back of the net more often than him in the calendar year, the Villa striker would be well within his rights to be confident of bagging more goals at Hampden.

But he made it clear he is expecting anything but an easy ride against Gordon Strachan’s side.

“It won’t be easy for us in Glasgow,” said Benteke. “It is never easy for teams to play there.

“And we have taken notice of Scotland’s recent results and performances. They managed to beat Croatia 1-0 over there which was a fantastic result and were unlucky to lose to England.

“I know they have changed coach since we last played them and we will have to play very well on the night to win the game.”

Benteke could also find himself lining up against his Villa team-mates Alan Hutton and Barry Bannan after the pair were included in the Scotland squad.

Both players have been told they have no future at the club under Lambert but the lack of first-team action won’t prevent them from trying to put one over the main man at their club.

In fairness to Benteke, he seems completely genuine in his admiration for a number of Scottish players playing in England.

“I obviously know both Hutts and Baz very well and it will be good if we were to play against each other,” said Benteke.

“But I know a lot of the Scotland players. James Morrison is a very good player for West Brom and I like Shaun Maloney. He is a really skilful player. So we know they’re a very good team.”

With the array of talent within their ranks, Belgium are becoming a popular outside bet to lift the World Cup in Brazil.

They currently top Group A with 19 points out of a possible 21 although the three-point advantage they hold over Croatia means Benteke and Co can’t allow themselves to start dreaming of World Cup glory quite yet.

“We’ve got to finish the group section well,” explained Benteke. “We’ve still got three matches to play and they are all important.

“Scotland’s win over Croatia proves anything can happen. So we know it’s important we approach all the games in the right manner.

“We know we have a good team and it would be great to play in the World Cup Finals but we will allow ourselves to think about that nearer the time. Right now our focus is on Scotland.”

The bad news for Scotland is, despite Lambert’s warning, Benteke did indeed walk out the training ground clutching his boots.