Salomon Rondon addresses his goal stats as he pushes for a Newcastle start

The striker joined the club from relegated West Bromwich Albion on a season-long loan earlier this month.

And Rondon hopes to make his first start for Newcastle in Sunday’s televised home game against Chelsea.

The 28-year-old, an unused substitute against Cardiff City last weekend, scored 10 goals in all competitions in two of his three seasons at The Hawthorns.

Rondon, keen to earn a permanent move to St James’s Park, is keen to better that tally.

“If you are a striker, the most important thing is to score goals,” said the Venezuela international.

“I know my stats, and maybe they have not been really, really high, but everyone knows that I was playing at West Brom.

“In my first season, I scored 10 goals. Maybe that didn’t make everybody really happy, but it was also difficult.

“In my career before then, I didn’t have any red cards, and then I had a red card.

“It was a difficult time for me because my dad had aneurysms in his brain, so it was a difficult moment for me.

“I tried to be focused and tried to score goals, although it wasn’t enough in my opinion.

“If you are a striker, you want to score 15, 20 goals, and it wasn’t like that, but I was happy anyway.”

Meanwhile, United winger Christian Atsu has been recalled to the Ghana squad following successful knee surgery. Atsu is in a 21-man squad for the September 8 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Kenya in Nairobi.