Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez was full of praise for the players who came into the starting eleven to star in the 6-0 win over Preston North End in the EFL Cup last night.
Matz Sels, Chancel Mbemba, Grant Hanley and Aleksandar Mitrovic have not had much game time in recent weeks but were recalled to the starting lineup as they turned over Simon Grayson’s side at St James’ Park, and the Magpies boss told the Shields Gazette that there could only be positives for the players who helped Newcastle to the quarter finals of the competition:
“It is important to have players pushing and trying to show they can do well. We have three or four players who have not been playing too many games. They come in and they play at this level, it can only be positive for the team and the future. I’m really pleased to see Mitrovic, Diame, (Christian) Atsu, or even (DeAndre) Yedlin. There were a lot of positives.”
Two goals from Mitrovic and two more from Mohamed Diame helped the Magpies to a comfortable victory, which was helped by the sending off of Preston midfielder Alan Browne mid way through the first half after an elbow on Jack Colback.
A penalty from Matt Ritchie and a late goal for substitute Ayoze Perez meant the Magpies will go into the league match at Deepdale at the weekend full of confidence.
