RONDON WILL EARN HIS STRIPES

Rafa says when Salomon is fit and firing he’ll help Newcastle stay up

SALOMON RONDON has been backed to fire Toon to safety – even though he hasn’t scored a Premier League goal for them yet.

The big striker has struggled to win over Newcastle fans since his loan move from West Brom and has yet to reach full fitness after a series of niggles.

But manager Rafa Benitez says Rondon is ready to rock and roll.

“It’s been quite difficult for him this season but I think he can do it,” Benitez (right) said.

“When he came here he was coming back from injury. It was difficult for him because he’d been out for three weeks, which is a long time during pre-season.

“Then, when he picked up another injury, we lost another five weeks. It would be quite difficult for any player to recover from that, but especially a big player who needs more time to improve his match fitness.”

The 29-year-old Venezuelan international has started only four Premier League games for Newcastle this season but is likely to lead the line against Bournemouth at St James’ Park this afternoon.

“It’s a question of time for him,” Benitez added.

“He will play better, for sure. When? Hopefully against Bournemouth.

“We are talking about a big striker who is strong enough to hold the ball.

”He’s decent with his feet and also has some mobility and can run, but we haven’t seen that enough yet. He is quite good in the air at flicking the ball and winning headers, but in terms of holding the ball Rondon is maybe a little bit better than Joselu.

“He is quite a strong striker. He is not very tall but he is quite strong. He uses his body really well, and that is the main thing.”

Rondon, whose only goal in a Newcastle shirt came against Nottingham Forest in the EFL Cup, admits his spell on Tyneside has been frustrating.

“I want to bring goals to these fans – that’s why I am here,” he said.

“That is my aim for the future. It is my job. The first thing is to help the team win games. After that my target is to get goals.”

Newcastle will be without Jonjo Shelvey, Yoshi Muto and Jamaal Lascelles after the trio failed to recover from injuries picked up during last week’s win against Watford. That victory eased the pressure on Toon, who are above the drop zone only on goal difference.

Clubs generally rest easy only when they reach the 40-point mark but Southampton stayed up last term on 36 points and Benitez reckons something similar will be enough this time around.

“Maybe with 36 you could be safe this year,” he said. “It’s a big gap between the top teams and those at the bottom.

“You have three teams at the top who have not lost and we’re in November – that’s not normal. That means the difference between the top sides and the rest is really big.

“You have a group of teams in the middle who can beat each other and teams at the bottom who can beat each other. But it’s very difficult to beat one of the top sides.”