It was back-to-back defeats in the Premier League for Crystal Palace last weekend after losing 2-1 to Watford at Vicarage Road, which followed their 2-0 loss at home versus Liverpool. 

And, once again, striker Christian Benteke has come under heavy criticism for yet another goalless display.

Andros Townsend, though, has leapt to the defence of his team-mate.

The Breakdown

"People focus on his goal record but he has offered a lot and played very well again,” Townsend told the Evening Standard after Crystal Palace's latest league loss.

"He worked hard, he won a lot of headers, running the channel and causing all sorts of problems."

By no means was Benteke's performance against Watford his worst, but £13.5m-rated (via Transfermarkt) Townsend is not fooling any of Crystal Palace's support if he thinks the Belgian has been offering the team plenty up front during his barren run in front of goal.

On too many occasions has Benteke failed to hold up the ball efficiently enough, often over-hitting his lay-off pass or simply misplacing it.

The Belgium international is also no longer as dangerous in the air as he once was.

Generating too much power on headers towards goal is something that has become all too frequent with Benteke and, ultimately, it is hard to see where Townsend is coming from with his defence of the 27-year-old.

Of course, it is only normal for a team-mate to back another team-mate when they are under scrutiny.

But, nevertheless, Townsend's actual assessment of Benteke is hardly accurate. The former Liverpool and Aston Villa man, quite simply, is not offering enough up front for Roy Hodgson's men.