RAFA BENITEZ insists there has never been an issue between him and Aleksandar Mitrovic at Newcastle United, and explained how the Serbian left because he didn’t suit the way he wanted to set the team up.

Mitrovic will return to St James’ Park for the first time this afternoon with Fulham, having seen goals dry up for the Cottagers since making an electric start to life in the Premier League at Craven Cottage.

The goals he scored early in the campaign ensured Fulham made a positive return to the top-flight but since then the team’s form has dipped dramatically and they now prop up the table.

Mitrovic continues to look dangerous in a Fulham shirt and Claudio Ranieri, who is now his manager after he replaced Slavisa Jokanovic, is convinced his forward will be out to prove a point on Tyneside today.

But the 24-year-old’s only two goals at club level – and he has nine - since mid-September arrived in the same game when Fulham beat Southampton on November 24, so he has not scored in nine matches during that period.

Benitez will not be thinking too much about that, but he does admit selling him in the summer in a deal worth £22m was necessary for how he wanted Newcastle to attack the Premier League this season with the squad he had at his disposal.

The New castle boss said: “You have a vision, and you see the stats. But I can analyse the games, the way that he was playing, and also every training session with us.

“Is he a good player? Yes. Can he score goals for Fulham? Yes. But, for us, maybe we needed something different. Maybe because he was not playing his confidence was low, and now it is high.

“But we needed more mobility. Normally, if you are defending and play counter-attack, the striker has to have more mobility. If not, he’s just a targetman. For our team that is not ideal. Can we play this way? Yes, but we would need to sign other players. It depends on the players around.  “But were we right or wrong? We got promoted, we won the Championship, we were right. Then, we finished tenth - so we were right. Now, we are ahead of Fulham - so, at the moment, we are right. We are doing well without him.”

But Benitez insisted he has never had a problem with the former Anderlecht man on a personal level.

He said: “No. Mitro is emotional but there was never a personal issue. There was a situation where he wanted to play so had to go because I couldn’t guarantee he would play.”

Discipline-wise Mitrovic has a hot temper so he could easily pick up a card from an official as much as he could put the ball in the net against his former club.

Benitez said: “In life, but especially in football, it's important to understand the context of every situation. We are talking about Mitrovic here and it's true that he was sent off in some games or he was banned for an elbow and things like that, but now he is doing well.

“He's fine there. Is he happier? I don't know, because we are talking about London or whatever. But anyway, he's doing well, the team is playing for him and then he's doing what everybody was expecting from him, scoring goals and fighting for every ball.”

But Benitez does not think it is fair to compare Mitrovic with the man who replaced him at Newcastle, Salomon Rondon. The Venezuelan has impressed during the mini-revival that has lifted them four points clear of the bottom three.

“It's not fair to compare them because they are different players in different teams at different times,” said Benitez. “When I was talking about Rondon, I was saying he's a strong centre-forward with more mobility, which we were looking for.  “When you play normally on the counter-attack, when you have to be deep because you don't have too much possession - that's the reality for us, we know it is like that – then sometimes the striker has to have some mobility and that is what Salomon is giving to us. That's the reason why I was keen on him.”

While Newcastle are excited with the performances of Rondon, they have also been satisfied with what Ki Sung-yeung has brought to the midfield. However, the South Korean has now been selected by South Korea for the Asian Cup so will head to the UAE after today’s game.

Benitez had hoped Ki would be available for some of the club's festive programme but now the 29-year-old could be away until early February if his team reaches the final.  "He will play this game and after he will go,” said Benitez. “Ki will play this game – hopefully – and then after, he will go because the manager wants him there on the 26th in Abu Dhabi for a training camp. Believe me, I was talking a lot about changing their mind, but there's no chance.

Newcastle’s Yoshinori Muto has been called up by Japan for the same competition but he will be available for some of Newcastle's festive programme.  When Newcastle face Fulham today, centre-back Federico Fernandez will be available again after a back injury. He is likely to replace Ciaran Clark, while Jonjo Shelvey and Karl Darlow will miss the game because of injuries.  Benitez said: “Shelvey, we still need to check how he's progressing. He's doing well. We have lost Clark, who has a problem with his ankle. Fed is fine and the rest of the players are fine.  "Lejeune has been training, so to be fair, we have now Jonjo and Clark, and also Darlow, who still has a problem with his elbow."