Aleksandar Mitrovic struggled to impress Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez in the first half of the season.

The Serbian was towards the bottom of the pecking order, but he has now been given a lease of life at Fulham.

The 23-year-old moved to Craven Cottage in January on a loan deal until the end of the campaign and in his last two outings, he has managed to find the back of the net.

The most recent was on Saturday when he secured the team’s second goal in their 2-0 victory over Championship leaders Wolverhampton Wanderers.

During Sky Sports live EFL broadcast (5.15pm) pundit Steve Sidwell likened Mitrovic to former Chelsea star Diego Costa, who scored 20 goals for Chelsea last season before leaving in the summer to rejoin Atletico Madrid.

“He offers that focal point at the top of the play, if you look at his style, it’s very similar to Diego Costa. He’s very bullish, strong and you don’t want to take that away from him because if you do you lose the player that he is. What you’ve seen is classic Mitrovic, he wants to feel defenders, wants them to be touch tight, roll them and get his shot away.”

It is unclear whether the forward will return to Newcastle when the season comes to an end as a lot may depend on the Magpies’ league status.

At the moment, the North-East outfit are just two points above the relegation zone in the Premier League and are struggling for wins having picked up just the one in their last seven top-flight games.

On Saturday, Newcastle relinquished a 2-0 lead – both goals scored by Dwight Gayle – to draw 2-2 with Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.

The travelling side conceded twice in the final 10 minutes of the clash.