Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert was impressed with Christian Benteke's performance against Manchester United on Saturday.

The 21-year-old Belgian striker arrived at Villa Park in a £7 million deal from Genk in the summer and has impressed in the Premier League so far this season.

And Lambert believes his performance in their 3-2 loss at home to Manchester United shows he has a bright future ahead of him after he gave the league leaders' defence a tough game.

"I think he is not just a strong player, his technique is terrific and for someone who is just 21 he can be anything he wants," he told Sky Sports.

"Christian keeps going. He is a brilliant guy as well. His character is terrific and he is a proper number nine.

"He did give the United centre-halves a run for their money."

Lambert went on to admit he believes Villa's spirited performance against United will give his side confidence and that he is was pleased with the way his young players performed, despite letting a two-goal lead slip.

"The players can take great confidence from leading against Manchester United," he added.

"It will make them grow a bit. You can see they are a young side but you would not have thought that by the way they played.

"They played with a lot of maturity, a lot of discipline in their game and I cannot fault them for the way they went about it."

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