"?Rafael Benitez has heaped praise on summer signing Matt Ritchie, who dropped down a division from Premier League Bournemouth to aid Newcastle's promotion push.
A brace in the Magpies' 4-0 win over Rotherham took his goal tally for the season to ten, and Benitez revealed that Ritchie was one of his prime targets last summer.
Asked if he was surprised that Ritchie opted to join the Championship club, Benitez told "?Shields Gazette: "I will not say that, because then we could talk about Dwight Gayle and we would say the same. Those players are both doing really well.
"When I started, people were saying "?oh, Rafa doesn't know the Championship'. But I was talking with a lot of people and talking about a lot of options, different players, and Ritchie was one of the first names.
"He is one player that if you sign him, you know you are right."?
He added: "In any team, to have players with quality and with the commitment that Ritchie has can always make the difference.
"It depends on the level as to whether you can play higher in the division or not. But the way that he works, and the passion that he plays with, means he can play in any division. We knew that we were signing a good player.
"The way he approaches every game, he gives the others some confidence and that is contagious. He is someone that, because he puts in so much in his game, the others have to follow him and that's positive for the team."?
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