Benitez praises his side’s FA Cup win
Newcastle United boss Rafael Benitez has praised the performance from his squad after they secured a 4-2 extra time win over Blackburn Rovers in their FA Cup third-round replay on Tuesday night, Football 365 reports.
Benitez’s side will host Watford in the fourth round of the competition after securing their progression with that win over the Championship side at Ewood Park.
The Magpies drew the original fixture 1-1 at St James’ Park and it took extra time for Benitez’s side to secure their place in the next round but when they did so the Spaniard was pleased with the effort and performances that his players put in.
Newcastle have however been dealt a slight blow, with Ciaran Clark and Jamaal Lascelles both being forced off with injury during the game.
The extent of both player’s injuries are yet to be confirmed but speaking post-match Benitez remained positive about the win:
I think it’s important to win, to score four goals and to go through. So I’m really pleased with that.
At the same time you have some problems and maybe you will lose some players – hopefully not, we will see in a couple of days how they are.
But OK, we won, and everybody has to be happy now and hopefully also it will help for the confidence of the players.
After conceding and reacting like we did, as a manager I have to be really pleased with them.
You wanted to win, you needed to win and to do it with the character they showed, with the reaction, and four goals – young players scoring goals, Joselu and Ayoze scoring goals, players who needed to score – that has to be good for the confidence of the team for sure.