Benitez calls on his squad to finish season strongly

Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez has challenged his squad to end the season strong and target an eighth-place finish.

While the Magpies spent a period of the season focusing solely on ensuring they remain in the top flight ahead of next season, the club are now in a safe position, firmly sat in mid-table.

However, with three games remaining for the Tyneside club, Benitez has called on his players to show what they’re about and leapfrog ninth placed Leicester and eighth place Everton.

While this could be impossible, depending on the respective club’s final few results, Benitez is determined to put recent defeats to West Brom and the Toffees behind them and end the season strongly.

Talking ahead of his sides’ trip to Vicarage Road to face Watford on Saturday, Benitez said;

At the beginning, to finish in the top 17 would have been fine. For us, it was a great achievement.

If we can finish in the top 10, it would be even better for everyone to be proud of this season. Every player knows this and they will try.

For me, it’s not a big difference to finish 12th or eighth, but because we are where we are, I would like to finish eighth if it’s possible or ninth or 10th. It would be much better.

While the performances against Everton and Albion in recent weeks haven’t been good, Benitez insisted that there has been no conscious decision from Newcastle to switch off, now that their Premier League status has been confirmed. He continued;

It’s not the motivation to run an extra mile, it’s because they were working so hard and they achieved something that was massive for everyone here.

Now it is more difficult, not to run because we had that the other day against West Brom.

The team was running, it’s just to run at the right time. The timing has to be good. The intensity was fine, but maybe it was too late, and also the decision-making.

For a team like us, we have to be organised, we have to play with intensity and everything has to be done with the same pace and the same passion that we had in the past.