IF RAFAEL BENITEZ feels the need to persuade Mike Ashley that a degree of flexibility is always desirable in transfer dealings, he need only show him the footage of the latest victory that took Newcastle back to the top of the Championship table. Sometimes, age is a virtue rather than something to be avoided.

Had Ashley’s transfer doctrine been followed to the letter last summer, Newcastle would not have signed 33-year-old Daryl Murphy from Ipswich Town. Yet with Dwight Gayle and Aleksandar Mitrovic injured, Murphy, with three goals from his last three appearances, is now the most important player on the Magpies’ books.

The Irishman got the ball rolling at the weekend, breaking the deadlock in first-half stoppage time, before another 30-something, Yoan Gouffran, teed up Newcastle’s second with a shot that Rotherham goalkeeper Richard O’Donnell could only parry, enabling Matt Ritchie to slot home.

Ritchie, who went on to complete his side’s rout with his fourth goal in the space of four days, turned 27 a couple of months after he made a £12m move from Bournemouth last summer. Ashley wants the vast majority of future signings to be under the age of 26.

As was the case when they last won promotion from the second tier seven years ago, experience is proving a key part of Newcastle’s success, yet Ashley remains wedded to a transfer formula that might yield results on the balance sheet, but which has been proven to create problems on the pitch.

Benitez remains hopeful of adding a couple of players to the squad before the transfer window closes a week tomorrow, and it will be fascinating to see what messages can be gleaned from the identity of the players arriving at St James’ Park.

As Saturday’s victory proved, knowledge of the English game is a vital asset when it comes to succeeding in the second tier. Even against opponents as limited as rock-bottom Rotherham, this is not an environment for blooding untried youngsters, even if their sell-on value might potentially trump that of Murphy, whose worth can be weighed in goals rather than speculative figures on a future financial projection.

“It’s obvious that we have to balance the team a little bit, so I’m expecting something this week, hopefully,” said Benitez, who continues to push for a loan deal for Andros Townsend, with the former Newcastle winger having been an 88th-minute substitute in Crystal Palace’s weekend defeat to Everton.

“But that’s just my feeling, I’m expecting. You can see that we can still improve the side a little bit, but there’s still nothing yet.”

Newcastle’s squad is undoubtedly stretched at the moment, with the make-up of Saturday’s bench, which featured Jamie Sterry, Dan Barlaser and Sammy Ameobi, highlighting the lack of options in the wake of injuries to key players and the loss of three further squad members to the Africa Cup of Nations.

Nevertheless, with Mitrovic set to be available for Saturday’s FA Cup fourth-round tie at Oxford, the Magpies have survived a potentially difficult spell with precious little cause for alarm.

They are back above Brighton, and boast a nine-point gap to third-placed Huddersfield Town, which is effectively ten once goal difference is taken into account. They are also ahead of where they were at an identical stage of the season when they last won promotion in 2010.

The return of Jonjo Shelvey has helped arrest the slight wobble that was apparent over the Christmas period, and having eased himself back into action in last week’s FA Cup replay win over Birmingham, the midfielder was back to his best at the weekend despite Will Vaulks’ attempts to man mark him at the heart of midfield.

Shelvey set up Murphy’s opener with a searing long-range free-kick that DeAndre Yedlin knocked back into his team-mate’s path, and also teed up Ritchie’s second goal, which saw the Scotsman drill home from the edge of the area after Shelvey’s perfectly-weighted through ball had left him in the clear.

The midfielder might have his disciplinary issues, but on his day, he is the best player in the Championship by a distance, and his ability to switch play from back to front in the space of one 50-yard pass provides Newcastle with a key attacking weapon.

“When you have a player with his quality, with his technical ability, it is a massive help,” said Benitez. “He passes the ball precisely.

“Sometimes, you can put the ball in a certain place, but you need to be precise and he is the one who can give the right pace to the ball and the right direction.”

Shelvey is a Premier League player currently plying his trade in the Championship, and the same can also be said of Ritchie, who now boasts ten goals from his position on the right-hand side.

Having impressed in the top-flight for Bournemouth last season, it was a significant coup when Newcastle persuaded him to drop down to the second tier, and his technical excellence is allied to a fierce drive and determination that makes him a formidable threat.

“In any team, to have players with the quality and commitment that Ritchie has can always make the difference,” said Benitez. “When I started, people were saying, ‘Rafa doesn’t know the Championship’, but I was talking with a lot of people and Ritchie was one of the first names. He is one player that if you sign him, you know you are right.”

Ayoze Perez claimed Newcastle’s third goal, converting the impressive Yedlin’s pull back at the front post, but while the Magpies ran out emphatic winners in the end, things might have been different had referee Jeremy Simpson awarded Rotherham a penalty when the game was goalless.

Having lost possession of the ball as he slid towards the edge of his box, Karl Darlow appeared to clip Anthony Forde’s heels before he scrambled across his area to make a superb save from Jerry Yates.

“The keeper definitely clipped him (Forde), but he stayed on his feet,” said Rotherham boss Paul Warne.  “If he’d gone down it could have been a red card, a penalty and we could have gone in at half-time 1-0 up against ten men.

“At this great stadium it could have been a different game, but unfortunately that wasn't the case and instead we’re on the back of a 4-0 drubbing.”