Following a knee injury sustained in early September as he was recalled to the Belgium squad, Christian Benteke has undergone minor surgery to speed up his recovery, according to Crystal Palace's official club website.The big man's surprise return to the international set-up was sadly cut short and he has been on the sidelines ever since. While he's been out, Crystal Palace have struggled for goals perhaps more so than when he was in the starting lineup.Benteke has been for the past season or so a shadow of the fearsome striker that we saw at Aston Villa, or indeed in his first season at Selhurst Park under Alan Pardew when he bagged 17 goals in all competitions.

Last season he provided a miserable return of three goals in 31 starts for the Eagles in the Premier League and many fans wanted him offloaded in the summer.

Roy Hodgson - who has since revealed Benteke will be out until the new year - kept faith in the £32m signing but that has not been repaid so far, with the 6 foot 3 target man failing to find the net this season.

Here's how Eagles fans reacted to news of his surgery and his ongoing recovery...

[brid autoplay="true" video="306215" player="12034" title="Watch Fixture in Focus Croatia v England"]