Newcastle United boss Rafael Benitez on urging Dwight Gayle to earn a spot

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Newcastle United striker Dwight Gayle came back into Rafael Benitez’s starting line-up against Bournemouth.

Newcastle United boss Rafael Benitez has told the Northern Echo that he has been urging Dwight Gayle to train better to force his way back into his starting line-up.

Gayle was Newcastle’s top scorer last term, as they earned promotion from the Championship, but he has been kept on the substitutes’ bench for much of the campaign so far.

Gayle was dropped in favour of Joselu, but the 27-year-old finally came back into Newcastle’s starting line-up against Bournemouth at the weekend.

And Benitez has revealed that he was wanting to see an improvement in Gayle during training sessions before he rewarded him with a first-team chance.

“Competition is good, and we said to him (Gayle) that if he trains well, he will get chances,” Benitez said. “They have to show it on the pitch.

“We will train now, we will have some sessions this week and wait for the players to come back from international duty. It’s still the same, we are improving but we need this time to improve some more.”

Gayle was unlucky not to score for Newcastle against Bournemouth, as he had a goal incorrectly disallowed for offside.

Gayle showed his poacher’s instinct to prod the ball into an empty net during the first half, but his celebrations were cut short.

That decision proved to be costly for Newcastle, as Benitez’s side fell to a 1-0 defeat.

Steve Cook scored last minute header to give the Cherries the victory, and condemn Newcastle to their second defeat in succession.