Strike pair look ready to play their part
IT SEEMS this international break has served both Dwight Gayle and Aleksandar Mitrovic well.
For Gayle, this fortnight has given Newcastle United’s top scorer time to really get his sharpness back.
He has been back in the side in recent weeks but has not looked fully up to speed since returning from his hamstring injury.
During these two weeks off, Gayle will have been training hard and making sure he gets himself fully up to speed – ready to really attack Wigan Athletic on Saturday.
He is Rafa Benitez’s No 1 striker and surely we will see him start at the weekend.
It looks as if Daryl Murphy is a doubt with his latest calf injury and that may give Aleksandar Mitrovic a chance to impress off the bench.
He has been frustrating this season and has not kicked on, but he scored a good goal for Serbia against Georgia at the weekend.
Mitrovic got the ball outside the box and curled a shot round the keeper and into the net.
Hopefully, that will have given the 22-year-old a welcome confidence boost. During the final 20 minutes of Saturday’s game, Benitez wants to be able to turn to Mitrovic and be confident the striker can come on and make an impact if necessary.
Mitrovic has had two spells this season where he has scored goals and made a difference – so we need that again during these final eight games of the season.
This international break came at the perfect time for Newcastle – hopefully it did for Mitrovic and Gayle too.