Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez says he was content with the performances of Achraf Lazaar and Daryl Murphy last night.
Before the EFL cup tie, neither player had made an appearance in the first-team since their arrival at St James’ Park in the summer transfer window.
While Lazaar had taken his place on the bench against Derby County, Murphy had not even appeared on the sub bench until last night demonstrating the strength in depth in the Magpies squad.
Talking to the Evening Chronicle after the 2-0 win against Wolves, Benitez said he was happy that the two players did their jobs:
“They were working very hard, that what you expect from them.
”Sometimes players on their debuts play a fantastic game or they do nothing, but what they have to do – it doesn’t matter – is work hard and they did it. They both did their jobs.
”They both did their jobs.”
Lazaar especially will be expecting to play regularly in the near future as the left-back was a regular playing for Palermo in Serie A before making his £3m move to St James’ Park in August.
He will, however, have to fight Paul Dummett to get into the starting lineup.
Murphy, meanwhile, has an even tougher task with Dwight Gayle, Aleksandar Mitrovic and Ayoze Perez all playing well.
Will Lazaar be a regular for the Toon Army? Let us know below..
