Newcastle United boss Rafa Benitez stands by the decision to sell Aleksandar Mitrovic to Fulham.

Newcastle cashed in on the big striker in the summer, selling for £20m after Mitrovic helped the Cottagers to promotion while on loan.

Benitez explained: "Were we right or wrong? We got promoted, we won the Championship, we were right. Then, we finished 10th - so we were right. Now, we are ahead of Fulham - so, at the moment, we are right. We are doing well without him."

The pair never fell out and Benitez added: "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.

"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."