Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert defends his decision to prefer Christian Benteke to Darren Bent against Tottenham despite their 2-0 defeat at White Hart Lane
Last Updated: October 7, 2012 8:35pm
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Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert defended his decision not to start with Darren Bent following the 2-0 defeat by Tottenham.
The England striker, who came off the bench to grab an equaliser against West Brom last week, was kept out of the starting line-up by Christian Benteke.
To make matters worse, the Belgian, signed from Genk in the summer, missed a free header in the second half.
"That was a big moment," Lambert admitted. "When you have chances like that at a place like this you have to put them away."
But he stood by his decision to leave Bent on the bench, saying: "Christian gives you a different option.
"Darren's threat is going in behind. That was the only reason why we did it.
"Tottenham's full-backs are going to bomb on at every opportunity so that's why I went with that decision. Darren has been fine about it."
