Away from spotlight, Benitez looks to revive Newcastle

Their last win was against Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem, while their only summer fixture that didn’t end in victory came in a 2-2 draw with League Two side Doncaster Rovers last month.

“We are a good team and we can be one of the best teams, but there is still plenty of work to do to improve and it will take some time”.

“We had many difficulties keeping a clean sheet last season, it’s great news for us”.

The Magpies have taken their spending close to the £50m mark after making Mohamed Diame and Ciaran Clark their sixth and seventh signings of the summer, but Benitez has admitted Newcastle still face a tough task in getting promoted.

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Benitez also confirmed yesterday that Dwight Gayle, the £10m buy from Crystal Palace, will wear the No 9 shirt this season and he is expected to start at Fulham as a lone striker in the absence of suspended Aleksandar Mitrovic. You put everything together, but the main thing was the fans.

Benitez told The Northern Echo: “I have said many times the Championship is very hard”. He said: “I don’t fear it at all – I’ve not even thought about it (the appalling away form)”.

“We had a lot of players who have played in the Championship”. We’ve had some discussions about the number 9 and I know already who it will be.

Serbian worldwide Mitrovic signed from Belgian side Anderlecht last summer for a fee of £13 million, but the 21-year-old hot-head failed to live up to expectations at St James Park with nine goals in his debut season.

Players willingly giving up Premier League football and dropping into a lower division isn’t supposed to be what happens these days. “We know it’s very hard, the Championship, and every game will be complicated but now we have the hope we can do well, the belief we can do well”. But in every game, it is just 11 players on the pitch.