Rafa Benitez judges his team from what he sees in training and he's delighted with Dwight Gayle's contributions of late
Rafa Benitez is set to stick with Dwight Gayle in attack against Watford after seeing enough in training to believe the former Crystal Palace man is getting back to his best.
Gayle netted 23 goals last season, despite missing large chunks of the campaign through injuries, but had to wait until last weekend to score his first goal back in the Premier League.
Much has been made about Aleksandar Mitrovic’s place in the squad and the striker moaned last weekend that he was tired of being left out of the starting XI.
When asked about Gayle’s return to form, Benitez told the Chronicle: “We know we have to score more goals.
“But when you have your top scorer back it’s a boost.
“He hasn’t been available for some time.
“Now he is coming back to his best levels in training in the last 15 days.
“He is training and playing with confidence.
“He’s the one with pace, and he’s the good finisher.
“Hopefully he has gained more confidence after his goal and that will be positive for us.
“That gives me more options in terms of positions.
“We still have a problem with finishing and we need to solve it.”