NEWCASTLE UNITED are back on familiar territory again this afternoon when Watford travel to St James’ Park, and a common question will resurface in terms of Rafael Benitez’s team selection too.

Despite the love for Benitez on Tyneside, he has been criticised this term for his selections in the final third of the pitch – and Dwight Gayle has suddenly found himself back in the fold ahead of the Hornets test.

Gayle, even though he finished as last season’s top scorer, has started the last two matches and scored the Magpies’ goal at Manchester United a week ago, so is likely to retain his place again this afternoon.

It was the former Crystal Palace man’s first goal of a frustrating campaign so far, with Joselu and Ayoze Perez preferred more often than not in the top-flight. The Spaniards have only scored three times between them, while Aleksandar Mitrovic has hit the net once.

Now it is Gayle’s chance and Benitez, knowing there are no other alternatives to turn to, is banking on him proving his worth at the top level as he looks to help Newcastle end a three-match losing run.

He said: "He scored a lot of goals last season and he has something different to Joselu, Mitrovic and Ayoze. Dwight coming back is important for us because in terms of accuracy, in terms of his runs, in terms of what he offers, it's quite good.

"Yeah some people will say: 'But in the Premier League?' He is a player who has been in the Premier League before, he has some experience and he can score goals. It is important for us to have this option.

"If I play with Mitrovic, Joselu, Ayoze or him, it's something that depends on what I can see every training session. But in terms of having Gayle back, he's a different option and one that we need.”

Benitez has been reluctant to play with two strikers, despite the shortage of goals. He said: “We had been doing well with Ayoze and Joselu and that was 4-2-3-1. We were playing better with both strikers, Joselu and Gayle but losing. It is a short blanket. Sometimes you think, ‘We are attacking, but you don't control Bournemouth on the counter attack. We had five chances and with Gayle and another two we had eight. But how many chances did we give to them?

“It is the Premier League, they have two chances but maybe they score one goal. Then always it is keep the balance of your team, attack and defending. If you play strikers it depends on the midfielders.

“If you are strong in the middle you can play with two strikers. It depends on your players and the other teams. I was happy with Joselu and Ayoze because they were doing really well.

“The understanding was good and we created chances and not conceding too many. We were strong as a team and we were winning games. Even losing with Joselu and Dwight I was happy. We were doing well and the link up play was good.

“Can we use one or the other one? It’s not a big difference for me. Both can be fine for us. They know what they have to do. Attacking we have a shape. Defending we have a shape. I think it is a good option for us that we didn't have. It will give us solutions during the games.”