Consistency Ki to keeping starting place

KI Sung-yueng admits he would be lying if he pretended his first few months at Newcastle United had gone according to plan.

But now the South Korean has belatedly been handed a chance to impress, Ki is determined to grasp his chance and keep his place.

The 29-year-old summer signing from Swansea City made only his third league start of the campaign as he deputised for Jonjo Shelvey during Newcastle’s 2-1 victory over AFC Bournemouth on Saturday.

And, having made a gamechanging impact off the bench against Watford the previous week, Ki controlled the Cherries clash.

And now the midfielder has promised that there is far more to come from him.

“If I say it wasn’t hard in the first few months it would be a lie. But I waited for my chance here because this is an amazing club,” Ki said of his start to life on Tyneside.

“If we show our quality with our squad we can stay in this league. It was a difficult time for two-and-ahalf months but I have settled down now and I am looking forward to the rest of the season.

“I am playing better, but I still think there is more from me to come. Hopefully more and more; I will score more, I can help the team more, but first of all I want to concentrate on my performance every single game, because we have good players in my position.

“I want to keep my place. Sometimes you can get injuries and suspensions, so I just want to keep going forward.”

Having been bottom of the table a fortnight ago, back-to-back wins have propelled Benitez’s side up to 14th in the Premier League.

Just two points separate six sides from 14th down to 19th - and Ki is confident United can make it three wins in a row when they travel to Burnley on Monday week.

“It was a massive game for us because we won last week and we wanted to maintain our winning performance,” Ki added.

“We needed points so, to beat Bournemouth, who are a very good team and doing well, is good for us.

“We dominated the game; part of the game we gave them chances but overall we did brilliantly well to get the win.

“We have to maintain our performance because it is still only two wins. We need more points.

“They are a very good team, I have watched them play for years, they create chances and pass the ball well.

“We handled the game very well, with Rondon in particular doing well up front. We have more confidence now and that will help against Burnley.”