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Aleksandar Mitrovic admits his patience is ‘almost to an end’ and says the support of Newcastle fans is ‘keeping him alive’ amid frustration about a lack of gametime.

Since scoring against West Ham in August, Mitrovic has played just 20 minutes of football for the Magpies, although he did serve a three-match suspension during that time.

Newcastle’s goalscoring troubles have been glaringly obvious, but Rafa Benitez has opted against using Mitrovic, keeping faith with Joselu and Dwight Gayle instead.

There has been plenty of reported interest in the 23-year-old, with Brighton and Southampton, as well as clubs in the Championship, Belgium, Italy and China said to be monitoring his situation.

Benitez will unlikely want to sell Mitrovic until he finds a replacement, and while the Serbian says he is remaining patient, he admits he may have to assess the situation in a month’s time.

“I’m patient, but we will see,” said Mitrovic.

“My patience is almost to the end, so we will see. I want to play. I want to be on the pitch. I’m patient, but we will see.

“I see where I am already. I’ve said already that I’m patient, but we will see. I don’t know what to say. I’m here, and we’ll see what’s happening.

(Image: 2017 Getty Images)

“I want to be here. I want to play. I like this club. I train good, I try to use every minute.

“We will see. I’ll try to do my best in the next few weeks.”

While he has struggled for game-time at Newcastle, his form for Serbia has been extraordinary.

Since last June, Mitrovic has scored nine goals in 13 international matches, firing them to next year’s World Cup in Russia.

Despite that, the former Anderlecht forward is concerned a lack of game-time at club level will affect his ability to perform in next year’s showpiece.

“It’s a big thing for the whole country, for all the Serbian players and for all the people in Serbia.

“It’s a big thing for my country, for my family and for all people in Serbia. If you want to do something there, you have to be ready. If I want to be ready, I have to play games and to be on the pitch scoring goals. That’s it.”

One constant of Mitrovic’s time on Tyneside has been the affinity he has held with the supporters.

During the home defeat to Bournemouth, the Serbian’s name was chanted loudly in the terraces and he admits the love of the fans has kept him going.

“This is what’s keeping me alive,” he added.

“Since the beginning, I don’t know why, but we have had a really amazing relationship. I love them, they love me.

“Newcastle is in my heart, and even if I maybe go somewhere, Newcastle will be in my heart.

“I hope I will stay here, but we will see what happens. I will always be a Newcastle United fan all my life. We will see.”

(Image: Iain Buist)

Mitrovic came on for the final seven minutes on Saturday, as the Magpies were beaten 4-1 by Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Newcastle caused the Red Devils some problems going forward, but were punished for defensive mistakes.

And Mitrovic says it is these fine margins that can cost you in the Premier League and admits United must learn from Saturday’s defeat.

“We had a good 25-30 minutes. We scored a goal and I think we could have scored one more. We had chances, but we didn’t.

“With big teams like Manchester United, if you don’t score your chances they will punish you. They did and scored two goals after that and in the second half they finished the game.”

He continued: “This (Man United) is a big team - one of the best on the world. They have the best players in the world, so they will use every chance and punish you.

“We made some mistakes and got punished. In the second half, they finished the game. We have to learn from this. Our season is long. We will play again against them and big teams, so we have to learn from this game.”