Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez urges Elias Sorensen to force way into plans

‘He has the desire to play in the first team’: Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez urges Elias Sorensen to force way into plans after training with senior stars

  • Elias Sorensen has trained with Newcastle’s first team ahead of Bournemouth
  • Sorensen has been allowed to impress in training due to injury problems
  • The 19-year-old Danish teenager has scored 13 times for Under 23s this season 

Rafa Benitez has challenged free-scoring Danish teenager Elias Sorensen to win his Newcastle debut after being called up to senior training for the first time this week.

The 19-year-old striker has netted 13 times for the Under 23s this season, including nine in his last six matches.

Given that Benitez’s side have struggled for goals this term it has led to calls from supporters for Sorensen to be included.

Elias Sorensen has been training with Newcastle’s first team due to an injury crisis

And the Denmark youth international has been elevated to the senior ranks in recent days after injury to forward Yoshinori Muto.

Benitez, though, says it is down to Sorensen to force his way into his first-team thinking.

‘We are lucky to have some young players coming to help the first team and he did well,’ said Benitez.

‘He has energy and movement. We are just talking about a couple of training sessions, but you could see the lad has the effort and desire to play in the first team, but it depends on him.

‘The players have to knock on the door by what they do on the pitch.’ 

Benitez will be without Muto (calf), captain Jamaal Lascelles (shoulder) and Jonjo Shelvey (calf) for Saturday’s visit of Bournemouth.

They were injured during last weekend’s 1-0 victory over Watford, a result which has lifted the mood around the previously winless club.

‘After an important win, everyone is a bit happier,’ said Benitez, whose side are now out of the bottom three.

‘Hopefully, we can carry on with the same feeling after the next game. It’s difficult to understand when you are not in the situation, we were not winning even though I thought we deserved to win, so we needed to get three points.

‘Even if it was not an amazing game, we needed the three points to get more confidence. We cannot just take one step forward – we have to carry on walking and then start running.’

Newcastle boss Benitez will be without Yoshinori Muto, Jamaal Lascelles and Jonjo Shelvey

Newcastle boss Benitez will be without Yoshinori Muto, Jamaal Lascelles and Jonjo Shelvey

 

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