Sam Allardyce sets Crystal Palace's Christian Benteke goal target in Premier League run-in

Sam Allardyce wants Crystal Palace striker Christian Benteke to score "five or six" goals in the next 10 games to help avoid dropping out of the Premier League.

Since Allardyce took over just before Christmas Day, Palace have taken 13 points from 10 matches and are 16th in the Premier League.

Palace have beaten Middlesbrough, West Brom and Watford in their last three matches, scoring fouring goals without conceding.

Speaking ahead of Saturday's trip to leaders Chelsea, Allardyce said: "If we are to stay up then we need to get Christian scoring again, and I hope he could bag five or six goals in the next 10 games to help the problem we're in."

The Belgium international scored eight goals in 15 matches under Alan Pardew, but has managed only one in 11 since Allardyce took over the reins and has admitted he is finding it tough to score under his new manager.

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"Individually it's difficult because I score less," Benteke told The Times on Thursday. "The Allardyce system is not designed to attack."

Despite Palace's improved defensive efforts, Allardyce has conceded that Palace will need to score more goals if they are to stave off relegation.

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The former England boss added: "Benteke has had to make a sacrifice in that the goals have not been quite as fluent for him as they were before I arrived.

"Using the word 'sacrifice' is nice to hear because it shows that he's not selfish. He's disappointed that he's not scoring goals at the moment but I wouldn't say it's because of my over-defensive tactics.

"But it's more that we have to get better in the final third creating chances, not just for him but all the team. We get there but I don't think we're as creative or as clinical as we should be.

"It's very frustrating for him because he hasn't put the ball in the back of the net since Bournemouth.

He's had opportunities and they've come and gone, and hopefully they will arrive at the right time for us, which is in the next 10 games."

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