Aleksandar Mitrovic says 'heart is full' for Newcastle United
Thursday 27 October 2016 08:40, UK
Aleksandar Mitrovic says he "could not be happier" at Newcastle United - despite being behind Dwight Gayle in the pecking order.
Mitrovic scored twice in Tuesday's 6-0 demolition of Preston in the EFL Cup, and the Toon fans have taken to the Serbian striker, regaling him with their song of 'Mitro's on fire'.
He is likely to be back on the bench when United return to Championship action this weekend - with North End again the opponents - with Gayle in fine form up front.
But Mitrovic said the fans' support left him feeling emotional on Tuesday night: "This is the reason I came to this great club. It's unbelievable, especially when you score here," he told the Shields Gazette.
"My heart is full for this club. I couldn't be happier when I score goals for these fans and this club.
"When you hear the whole stadium sing your name, it really is unbelievable. I have heard them sing 'Mitro is on fire' and it really is unbelievable. I have not felt like this for a long time.
"I had really good fans behind me at a really big club like Anderlecht and Partizan Belgrade as well, but here you get 52,000. When you were a boy you dream about things like this."
Gayle has scored 11 times in the Sky Bet Championship this season and Mitrovic has no issue with boss Rafa Benitez continuing to prefer the former Crystal Palace man.
"It's not been easy for me as a striker because you have Dwight Gayle, who is scoring every game," he said. "I say I love Dwight. I like him a lot as a person and as a player. I will keep going, and that's all I keep saying."
Mitrovic played down an incident when he argued with Matt Ritchie about who was going to take a penalty against Preston. In the end Ritchie took it - and scored.
"Matt was down to take it first," he said. "I asked him if I could try to score. It was nothing. I just fancied my chance. He scored a good penalty. It was nothing. As long as we are scoring goals, it doesn't matter who scores."
