Rafa Benitez has defended Ayoze Perez’s early season performances – saying he has the quality to come through his run of poor form.
Perez was Newcastle United’s top scorer with eight goals last season but is yet to open his account and has only one assist to his name.
He missed a gilt-edged chance against Brighton that would have changed the direction of that game before underwhelming once again at Southampton last time out.
United don’t have too many options to cover for the forward but his performances have led to some questioning why he remains in the team.
Benitez remains a big fan of Perez, however, and says that they need to “protect” him and trust that he will come good again. His form in the second half of last season was one of the reasons for United ending the season strongly.
“Ayoze understands the frustrations of some people,” Benitez said.
“He has quality and talent and he scored eight goals, so he can do these things. Has he got to be more consistent? Has he got to have more pace, more ability? Yes, you can put a lot of things together, but, again I will say, he scored eight goals last year and is a member of our family, so we have to protect him.”