He bagged a brace in Newcastle United’s 6-0 EFL Cup triumph over Preston North End in midweek but Aleksandar Mitrovic has admitted he’s only a back-up option at present, report Chronicle Live.
With Rafael Benitez’s side facing North End yet again in the Championship on Saturday, Mitrovic may receive a rare starting opportunity at Deepdale with first choice striker Dwight Gayle having picked up a knock in training.
But speaking about his prospects recently, the Serbian international claimed: “It’s hard to play when (Dwight) Gayle is scoring in every game.
“I’ve said to Gayle a few times ‘please, leave me to play a little!’ but he keeps scoring goals.”
Having only started a single Championship game against QPR so far this season, Mitrovic has often arrived into games as an impact sub or has been totally unused with Dwight Gayle the Magpies’ leading goalscorer right now on 11 strikes.
While Mitrovic has looked an explosive and sometimes unpredictable player in his Newcastle United spell so far, pleading with Matt Ritchie to hand him penalty duty in midweek’s win, the Serb was anything but selfish in his further comments.
“It’s good to have a lot of players – Mo (Diame), Ayo (Perez), Dwight, me – who can score goals for the team,” continued Mitrovic.