Newcastle striker Daryl Murphy has told the club’s official website that that he knew he had to be patient to get his chance in the Magpies’ first team. The 33 year old was signed from Ipswich Town for £3million in August but hadn’t appeared in a Newcastle match day squad, let alone the starting eleven since his arrival at St James’ Park.
Murphy said however that he wants to be given a chance by manager Rafa Benitez sooner rather than later:
“I’ve been itching to go since I signed, to be honest. But I knew I had to be patient and I knew I’d get a chance at some stage, so I just had to be ready.”
The Irish international was aware of the challenge he would face to become a first team regular at Newcastle when he signed and even in the latter stages of his career he wants to continue improving and work his way into Benitez’s starting lineup on a regular basis:
“I knew it was a big challenge when I signed here, but that’s what you need. You need something to strive towards and in my case I want to play, so I need to show the manager when I get a chance that I can do what he wants me to do.”
It will be a huge task for the forward however with strikers Dwight Gayle, Ayoze Perez and Aleksandar Mitrovic all making their own cases for inclusion, but the Irishman is up for the battle:
“We’ve got great competition for places and any of the lads could play, and it’s good for the squad that we’ve got that. You need that, and you know you’re going in the right direction if you have everyone pulling in the same way.”
Most likely, Murphy’s direct competition will be Mitrovic with both target men offering something slightly different to the Magpies attack.
