Newcastle United winger Andros Townsend has revealed he was disappointed by the sacking of Steve McClaren, but he claims that the arrival of Rafa Benitez shows the ambition of the club.

The 24-year-old arrived at St James' Park in a £12million move from Tottenham in January, when McClaren was still in charge of the Magpies.

McClaren has since been sacked, which disheartened Townsend, but the 10-time England international was quickly back on his feet when the Toon landed former Liverpool, Chelsea and Real Madrid boss Benitez.

"Getting Rafa Benitez to come to Newcastle just shows how big the club is," said Townsend.

"He's won everything around the world and managed the best players, so it can only be a positive for us.

"We can stay up this season and we can keep one of the best managers at Newcastle.

"It's been fantastic with Rafa coming in, but it's no secret I was disappointed when McClaren left. They paid a lot of money to get me here and it was Steve who put his faith in me to get me here.

"This is football, and you need to move on."