In Benitez’s pre-match press conference for Tuesday night’s trip to Norwich, Rafa confirmed that Newcastle’s most influential and top scorer striker Dwight Gayle was fit to join back into the team after a few weeks out on the sidelines.
This leaves Newcastle with only two injuries in the long-term injury to Rolando Aarons which will see him out to the end of the season, and Vernon Anita who should be back in a few more weeks time.
He also defended Alexander Mitrovic after the controversial decisions taken by the referee on Saturday and spoke of how he is also easily targeted along with Jonjo Shelvey due to the influence they have on the team. Which meant that he could not be played in the way that he wanted to play and that he substituted him due to the danger of him getting sent off in the second half as decisions went against him. He spoke at the end of his interview again about the decisions from the referee in the Wolves game after reviewing the game and sharing that there was a foul around the 5th minute on Mitrovic which could have been a red card and a penalty as it was near the box which could have been awarded to Newcastle, and also shared that he thought that the yellow card he got shouldn’t have been given.
The boss also spoke momentarily about the reaction from the crowd during the game towards Jonjo Shelvey, but said that he did well and it was not easy for him but said he was professional and focused on his football. He also spoke about the action he wishes the FA to take to investigate the crowd in the stands to stop them abusing players.
He also looked forward to Tuesday’s game at Carrow Road talking of how tough it will be and that in the early parts of the season Rafa thought that they would have been fighting for the title but still think they are doing well. He is also staying focused said he wants to go into the game with the right mentality. Which points to Newcastle not wanting to get complacent with being top of the league and push on to get the 3 points from Norwich. He spoke about the form of Norwich and that they have a good team with experience of the championship and know how to do their jobs and they are doing well. But Rafa wants to take the points from Carrow Road but wishes them well afterwards. He spoke about the balance in the team of having both good attacking and defending players and referred back to it being a toughened difficult game and that the team need to be ready.
