RAFAEL Benitez has defended his move for Daryl Murphy, insisting the Irishman can play a big role in Newcastle's bid to seal an immediate Premier League return.

Supporters and pundits have questioned the near £5m outlay for the 33-year-old, but Benitez claims the former Sunderland forward could prove a vital acquisition, even if he fails to hold down a regular starting role at St James' Park as one of a dozen arrivals in a £50m summer spending spree.  

The Newcastle manager wants Murphy to be given time to win over his doubters, who remain unconvinced by the Republic of Ireland international's credentials, despite a near goal every other game record for his former club Ipswich - 50 in 125 starts

That figure is skewed by a prolific 2014-15 campaign, when he topped the Championship scoring charts with 27, before finishing last season with a more modest 10 goals for Mick McCarthy's Tractor Boys.

"People will have their own opinions about Daryl, and in football everybody thinks they're right beforehand," insisted Benitez, whose side return to Championship action in the early evening kick-off at Derby County today. "For me, it's more about being proved right afterwards, so let's see what has happened at the end of the season."

Murphy scored 14 times in 60 league starts for the Black Cats following his arrival from Waterford in 2005. Loan stints at Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich followed, before a move to Celtic six years ago. 

He hopes to make his Newcastle debut against the Rams having ended his international scoring duck at the 24th attempt when finding the net against Serbia, his first goal in any form of football for almost six months. Benitez added: "You can see in the short space of time he's been here training with us that he will be able to give us something.

"How much he can give us depends on him, and it depends on the other players but we know he will be good for competition. We signed him because he's scored goals in the Championship and he will add some physicality and he brings with him experience. We were looking for a striker to compete against the other strikers. It had to be a big man who could be a target man and who would be good in the air and in Daryl we have that."

Murphy is likely to have to settle for a place on the bench against Nigel Pearson's side, with strike duo Dwight Gayle and Aleksandar Mitrovic available after sitting out the 2-0 win against Brighton at the end of last month due to concussion protocols in the wake of both suffering head injuries in the EFL Cup victory over Cheltenham.

Benitez added: "Sometimes we talk about a player having been a disaster because he's not played all that much, but the thing you need to realise is that maybe just because he's there, he's keeping the other players in his position on their toes.

"If he's doing that he's doing a job and he's doing it well. It's all about the team in the end and the goal of getting us back into the Premier League. If someone plays more or less games or scores more or less goals to me it doesn't matter. It's all about the team. He understands we have some good strikers here so competition for places is strong but that's what we're looking for to ensure we are where we want to be at the end of the season."

Murphy's fellow recent arrivals DeAndre Yedlin, Christian Atsu and Achraf Lazaar are also likely to have to wait for their full debut as Newcastle go in search of a fifth consecutive victory in all competitions and what would be first win at Derby for more than 14 years.

Benitez, who revealed midfielder Cheick Tiote is considering an offer to move to the United Arab Emirates, has told Tottenham Hotspur the £30m acquisition of Moussa Sissoko was 'good business' for the London club.

Speaking for the first time about the departure of the France international in a deal where Spurs were widely seen to have paid way over the odds for the inconsistent midfielder, the Spaniard added: "Our fans, some of them maybe will not agree, but I think he's a good player, and I wish him well. It was good business for everyone, and hopefully for us.

"Overall our business in the transfer window has been great. Could it have been better? Yes. Could it have been worse? For sure. But I think we did a good job all together, because we have the players we want and for that I'm really pleased.

"We got what we were looking for. It could have been even better, because we had other targets that we couldn't get because they wanted to stay in La Liga, Serie A, the Bundesliga or the Premier League."