“Of course I felt I needed to start well. We lost players and we had to sign players as well - and I think we signed players because the gaffer wants what is best for the club. I think the players who have come in have tried to help us as soon as they can, and that’s a good point for Newcastle. We will try to stay in the best position like last season, but we know how difficult it is. I think we have a good squad and we’ll try to do that.
“Personally, it was very good because for a striker to start the competition by scoring goals, it is very important. People want the strikers to score goals; we do more things than only score, but I think personally for me it was very important. The Premier League is so difficult, but I was really happy to score and I will try to continue to score more goals and help the club.
“It was very good for my confidence, because all strikers want to score goals in the first game of the season and try to keep that confidence for the next games. I had that opportunity in the first game, to score against a big club, and we didn’t take the points. But for me, for my confidence, it was very important. You ‘lose weight’; I don’t know how you say it in England, but in Spain you say: ‘You lose weight when you score.’ Maybe you are carrying ‘weight’ with your body and then when you score, you lose all this weight. To lose that ‘weight’ in the first game is very important for the rest of the season. Of course, I am a confident player, but when you don’t score or have a bad game, you feel sad.
“I try to do my best on the pitch. I know the people want the strikers to score goals, but the gaffer knows me. I know last season that I missed chances, but all the strikers missed chances. I saw games where Cristiano Ronaldo would have 15 chances and miss 13, but score two goals - and he’s the best striker in the world. That’s the good thing. But I try to do my best on the pitch; I try to run, I try to press, I try to score as well, but some games it’s not like that.
“I go home, I try to rest, then the next week start training on Monday and try to prepare for the next game. I try to score because I want to score and I want to help the club to stay up. I don’t want to miss the chances. I try to do my best every game, and when you have a bad game, you just have to go home and rest. The next day is a new day, and the next week is a new week.”