Ki offers Newcastle a degree of calm in midfield that Shelvey just cannot match

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Before the season began, many observers would have said that Jonjo Shelvey is central to Newcastle’s hopes of Premier League survival.

Despite the fact that his undisciplined and inconsistent style is largely at odds with Rafa Benitez’s cold, uncompromising approach, there is an understanding there that the Englishman is one of the few players in the Magpies’ largely workmanlike ranks who can make something happen.

That has made him a popular figure among the club’s long-suffering fans but he has been largely absent in Newcastle’s recent run of three Premier League wins.

He played for 51 minutes of the first victory of the recent revival, at home to Watford, but it was only when he was replaced by Ki Sung-Yueng that Benitez’s side were able to push on and get the winner through Ayoze Perez.

Ki has started in the subsequent wins, against Bournemouth and Burnley, and the calm and disciplined approach of the South Korean has been vital in that pair of 2-1 triumphs.

The former Swansea star has the passing quality of Shelvey but less unpredictability and that is sure to appeal to Benitez, even if it perhaps isn’t as entertaining for the supporters.

It also means that Shelvey is not perhaps as integral to Newcastle as first thought, which is an unlikely boost to their survival hopes.