Mitrovic to clean up his act
BAD BOY Aleksandar Mitrovic returns to the Newcastle side for tonight’s tie at home to Cheltenham with Rafa Benitez claiming he has turned over a new leaf.
The Serb has served a fourmatch ban following an X-rated challenge on Tottenham’s Kyle Walker last May, his second red card of his short Toon career.
Mitrovic has shed the pounds during the summer and Benitez is confident he can curb his temper too. “We are talking to him all the time, watching videos of past games and telling him what he has to do, what he can’t do and how he has to react,” said Benitez, who will ring the changes tonight. “It is a process, not something that can be done by just clicking your fingers. But hopefully after his four-match ban, he will have learned his lesson.”
Benitez expects several players to be leaving before the transfer window shuts. Siem de Jong has joined PSV Eindhoven on a seasonlong loan and fellow Dutchman Tim Krul will follow him back to Holland. Krul, on the verge of a comeback from a cruciate knee injury, will sign a 12-month extension to his Toon contract before joining Ajax until the end of the season.
Cheltenham winger Jonny Smith may be a Liverpool fan who holds Benitez in high regard but still hopes to put one over on his idol.
Smith, on loan from Bristol Rovers, said: “He’s a legend in Liverpool. I’m a Liverpool fan and what he did for our club – winning the Champions League and taking us a long way – was brilliant. But we’re hoping to do one on Rafa tonight.”