The Magpies face Aston Villa later on Saturday, having gotten their revenge on the Molineux outfit on Tuesday.
Newcastle United’s Matt Ritchie celebrates after he scores his sides first goal
Newcastle United star Matt Ritchie has explained to the Magpies website how last weekend’s loss to Wolves could actually end up being a positive for Rafa Benitez’s side, as they seek to return to the Premier League.
The Tyneside giants had been in imperious form before the 2-0 loss to Walter Zenga’s men, winning six league games in a row, several in dominant fashion, only to be brought down to earth by the defeat.
Picture Supplied by Action Images – Matt Ritchie in action for Scotland
But the former Bournemouth star had a very pragmatic perspective on losing out to the Midlands side, especially after getting their revenge by knocking Wolves out of the League Cup midweek.
“Come on, that’s seven games out of eight that we’ve won,” he told nufcTV. “Don’t get me wrong, we need to keep our feet on the floor and we need to keep striving to win games, get better and improve, but we’re not going to win every game in this league.
“There’s going to be games like last Saturday when we do slip up. At the start of the season, when we lost two on the bounce and everyone was panicking a little bit, I think it could have been a blessing. Sometimes it’s a little kick up the bum, gives everyone that little shake-up that they need and I think (Tuesday night) showed that.”
The Magpies started the Championship season as strong favourites to win the division having made a series of impressive signings, including the Scotland winger, while also managing to hold on to manager and Champions League winner Rafa Benitez.
Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez
But successive defeats to Fulham and then Huddersfield showed the fickleness of expectation by causing pundits and supporters to worry about the side, only for Newcastle to completely turn their form around.
The Championship is not an easy division, and arguably no Premier League side would be able to drop down and win every game.
Newcastle have proved they have the quality to be a force as they seek promotion, but players and supporters alike would do well to listen to Ritchie and his advice, with the 27-year-old having experienced promotion barely more than a year ago with the Cherries.
Next up with for the Magpies is a match with another fallen Premier League outfit, Aston Villa, a game that will be fiercely contested but is capable of going either way.
Newcastle United’s Jonjo Shelvey celebrates with Matt Ritchie after the final whistle
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