Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke has admitted that he is relieved to have returned to form after seeing his campaign hindered by injury.

Benteke has spent time on the sidelines with hip and knee problems since September, and the Belgian international has conceded that he found the frustration of missing crucial fixtures "hard to take".

The 23-year-old is quoted as saying by the Birmingham Mail: "I started this season well, but my hip injury at Norwich was hard to take because it was the first one that I'd had for a long time.

"I didn't know how to react and I tried to come back too quickly. But the manager told me to go back to Belgium, work on it and come back fit.

"Then I injured my knee, which obviously didn't help. But I'm fit now and playing well."

Benteke has scored eight times in 23 appearances for Villa this season.