Newcastle winger Christian Atsu was delighted with his winning goal against Rotherham at the weekend after being given his first start for the Magpies.
The Ghanaian international had been used sparingly from the bench since his arrival on loan from Chelsea in August, but he made the most of his opportunity to start on Saturday when he replaced Matt Ritchie in the starting lineup.
He told the Evening Chronicle he knew he would be given the opportunity by manager Rafa Benitez to play and wanted to give the Spaniard a selection dilemma for upcoming matches: “I knew, for sure, that he would give me a chance.”
”He will give everybody a chance. Sometimes you have to give the coach a headache when he makes his selection.
”Each day I try to work hard for Newcastle. I want the team to win. This is more important.
”I want to help the team most, and to help the team you have to be on the pitch. I want to play with all my heart.”
Prior to the match, Atsu had been linked with a move to Italy due to his lack of matches on Tyneside so far during his loan spell.
With Yoan Gouffran, Matt Ritchie and now Atsu all in the goals, Rafa will have to make some tough decisions on who will start on the wings in the coming weeks.
His stunner is likely to put him in major contention for the game with Brentford after the international break.
