TIM SHERWOOD celebrated his “most satisfying win of the season” on his return to White Hart Lane on Saturday, as his Aston Villa side overcame a lacklustre Tottenham to win 1-0.

For Sherwood it was the dream return to the club that he managed for the second half of last season before being replaced by Mauricio Pochettino.

However, he was keen to emphasise that there is no bitterness over the club’s decision to let him go.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for Daniel Levy. This club’s been very good to me in the past and without them I wouldn’t be Aston Villa manager,” he said.

He focused on the positives of the display, in particular the renaissance of Belgian striker Christian Benteke. He has now scored seven goals since Sherwood took over in February, up from three in his previous 16.

“If you give him chances he will score, and he’s showing that,” Sherwood said.

“Before I came in there was obviously something wrong with the way the team were playing behind him. Now we’re playing to him a lot earlier and I think that’s the key.”

It was Benteke that put Villa ahead after 35 minutes. Having tormented stand-in right back Vlad Chiriches for the opening exchanges, he rose above Federico Fazio to meet Leandro Bacuna’s cross with a powerful header that went in off the post.

Benteke almost helped Villa double their lead 10 minutes later when his flicked header released Gabriel Agbonlahor, whose low shot cannoned off the upright with Michel Vorm sprawling.

Spurs were far from their best, with Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane uncharacteristically profligate in front of goal.

Eriksen blasted well over the bar from the edge of the area three times in the first half.

After the game a deflated Pochettino admitted that recent poor performances had all but dashed his club’s hopes of Champions League qualification.

“Realistically it’s difficult to fight for the top four if you saw the last two games. Our performance wasn’t good.”

For Aston Villa, their energetic and assured display took them six points above the relegation zone and a step closer to safety.