Benzema: I want to play more

Karim Benzema has confessed to being frustrated with the lack of games he has been playing with Real Madrid.

However, the Frenchman did not blame José Mourinho for his predicament, and insisted he has the full support of his coach.

He told French newspaper 'L'Equipe': "Of course I want to play more. Since the start of the season I've spent more time on the bench than I have on the pitch, but I'm going to continue to fight for my place and make the most of all the minutes I play for the team."

Benzema also revealed that Mourinho has been trying to motivate him, to make him improve his performances.

"He is always looking out for me and supporting me, he never lets me get my head down. Even when I play well, he says 'you played ok', and when I play really well, he just says 'you played well'. He does that to make sure I keep playing at my best."

The striker has played just 402 minutes in the league so far in 2012/13, and did not hide his disappointment of how the season had gone thus far.

"I can't say it's been great," he admitted. "When I play I try to make the most of the opportunity and try to score or provide an assist. I can't afford to relax."

He also denied that he had been playing even worse for France than he had been for Real Madrid. "It's true I've scored less goals for France recently than I have for Madrid, but I'm very involved in the play and I'm always trying to create space for my team-mates. I'm not worried (about his goal drought) because I've made several decisive passes. If the team want, I can play fewer passes and provide fewer assists, and just play in the area and score goals. I could do that, but it'd be to the detriment of the team."

Source: AS

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