Tim Sherwood has sought to rebuild Christian Benteke’s confidence by holding one-on-one talks with the Belgium international and reminding him that not so long ago he was regarded as one of the top strikers in the Premier League and a target for leading clubs.

The Aston Villa manager told Benteke, who has not scored in the Premier League in more than two months and has managed only three in all competitions since returning from a long-term injury in October, that it “wasn’t a flash in the pan” when he plundered 23 goals in his first season in English football, after joining from Genk in 2012.

Villa, second from bottom in the table after losing their past six Premier League matches and the lowest scorers in the division by a distance, badly need Benteke to rediscover his touch over the final 12 games of the season, starting with Saturday’s trip to Newcastle United. “Teams should be [scared of him]. If they’ve got memories like me, I remember him terrorising defenders and we need to get him back to that,” said Sherwood, whose reign as Villa manager started with a 2-1 home defeat against Stoke City last Saturday.

Asked whether he has taken Benteke to one side to try to build him up, Sherwood replied: “Yeah, I do all that. Not try and patronise him, just try and tell him some home truths: ‘You know what, you were one of the best strikers in the country and everyone wanted you. Aston Villa didn’t want to sell you and now we need to get you back to that’. It’s in there. It wasn’t a flash in the pan, it’s embedded into him. He scores one in two [games]. He’s a prolific goalscorer. So we need to help him. But not only him, we need to find goals from other areas as well.”

One of Paul Lambert’s final acts as manager was to drop Benteke, and during a difficult season for player and club questions have been asked about the striker’s body language at times. Sherwood, however, highlighted the fact that Benteke is still young – he turned 24 in December – and said that he has been nothing but impressed with the player’s attitude.

“It’s very good. He wants to improve,” Sherwood said. “He’s out there with me, the last out on the training field trying to improve his finishing and trying to get some confidence hitting the back of the net. He wants to work hard and wants to try and recapture the form we all know he can do.”

Villa’s woes in front of goal are well-documented – with 13 goals from 26 league matches they are the lowest scorers across all four divisions – and they managed only three shots during the Stoke game. Sherwood, however, said that it was unfair to expect everything to change overnight. “We’ve had five days of training [before Stoke] so give us a break. Of course, it is going to take time. I have managed for one game and we’ve scored one goal. Good ratio.”