Benteke eyeing early return from injury

When news broke in April that Christian Benteke had ruptured his achilles and would be out for at least six months, many Aston Villa fans began mentally preparing to be without the Belgian in the first half of next season. But now he has spoken to Mat Kendrick over at the Birmingham Mail and is sounding optimistic that he will return sooner than originally predicted. If he is correct, we will still see Villa begin the season without their most prolific scorer, but it could mean a return before Boxing, which is what many had predicted.

As good as this news is, consider me dubious. We've heard from the club and players themselves that Charles N'Zogbia and Jores Okore would be back sooner than expected as well. There was even word that we could see both by April. That, of course, did not pan out. Talk of the sort isn't bad–after all, I'd hope that the players are optimistic about their return date, it means they're working hard to be back–it just isn't particularly believable. It's as if the doctors with years of training in their field may actually have a better handle on injury recovery than the players who have done nothing but play football with their lives. 

Strange, I know. Still, let's hope that Benteke is right. It'd be nice to have him back.