OPINION
Newcastle United defender DeAndre Yedlin should get comfortable sitting on the bench as Javier Manquillo showed enough against Leicester City to earn Rafa Benitez’s trust.
The 25-year-old speed demon didn’t feature against the Foxes in the 1-0 victory over them on Friday as Benitez dropped him to the bench after his mistake against Crystal Palace last weekend.
While Yedlin will no doubt be itching to get straight back in Benitez’s first-team plans, he should get used to being left out as Manquillo seized his chance to stake a claim to feature for the next few games.
The 24-year-old showed signs of rustiness from not regularly featuring in the opening 45 minutes of the clash with Leicester but as the game went on, he grew into the game and arguably submitted one of his best performances for the club thus far.
Manquillo showed he could be trusted to deal with pacey attackers running at him as Harvey Barnes kept putting pressure on Manquillo throughout the game before being subbed, yet the 24-year-old right-back took it all in his stride.
The Spaniard has often been criticised for his performances while wearing the black and white stripes, as he has been exposed as a liability at times, but most Magpies fans would have been impressed with him on Friday.
While Manquillo’s track-record does imply that a mistake is on its way from the full-back, when you consider how assured he looked against Leicester City, Benitez should give him the benefit of the doubt.
This is even the case when you consider that Yedlin had previously looked head and shoulders above his teammate in the pecking order.
