Tim Sherwood has admitted that he is "grateful" to Christian Benteke for rescuing Aston Villa during Tuesday night's 3-3 draw against fellow strugglers Queens Park Rangers.

The Villans were staring a costly defeat right in the face, one which would have left them inside the Premier League's bottom three once again, until the Belgium international struck late on to round off an impressive hat-trick.

Benteke has been in inspirational form since Sherwood took over earlier this year, and the Villa boss hopes that his star man can add to his seven goals in seven games over the coming weeks.

"It doesn't come much better than that. He's a good player, I have always said it and he's in a rich vein of form," the 46-year-old is quoted as saying by talkSPORT.

"It's fantastic for him to score the goals, it's just a shame we couldn't get the three points. It's not about what you deserve, it's about what you get and we got one point.

"This could be a vital point come the end of the season in the end, when you go so late into the game and Christian has had to pull that out the bag we're grateful."

Villa now find themselves three points clear of the drop zone, having played a game more than most of the sides around them.