Never mind other sides, Benitez tells Toon
Matt Ritchie celebrates after scoring Newcastle’s second goal during the 2-1 win against Wigan. Opposite page, the winger has a chance saved late on
PRESSURE can do funny things to footballers.
Newcastle United players have had to deal with immense expectation levels all season.
Rafa Benitez’s men were firm favourites for the Championship title, and they are expected to win every game, particularly at St James’ Park.
Of course, that was never going to happen – and on five occasions this season United have been defeated on home soil.
Against Wigan Athletic, the result was all that mattered. The performance
was anything but impressive, yet United have another three points on the board.
Huddersfield Town, on the other hand, have fallen even further behind the Magpies in the race for automatic promotion.
The gap down to the Terriers now stands at 10 points, although it is effectively 11 given Newcastle’s vastly superior goal difference. True Huddersfield have a game in hand, but they have now dropped six points in their last two outings.
Benitez knew the Terriers were
Newcastle’s main threat for promotion, so he heaped the pressure on to David Wagner’s side.
He emphasised the fact that Huddersfield can no longer play with the same freedom they could before.
Benitez has stressed repeatedly over the past few weeks that the Terriers must now understand that they cannot afford to slip-up; any defeat or draw could prove extremely damaging to their promotion hopes.
Clearly that pressure is now beginning to tell on Huddersfield.
As for Newcastle, they may not be
playing anywhere near to their free-flowing best, but they ground out this victory.
The Magpies’ class also told. Dwight Gayle and Matt Ritchie cost a combined £22m last summer, and they are proving to be bargain buys.
When the pressure is on, quality players produce the goods.
That’s what Gayle and Ritchie did at St James’ Park.
Benitez said before the Wigan game that Newcastle would be up if they won their five remaining home matches – it’s now one down, and four to go, then. RAFA Benitez has urged Newcastle United to concentrate on their own results during the Championship promotion run-in.
The Magpies now have a 10-point gap over thirdplaced Huddersfield Town after the Terriers went down 1-0 on home soil against Burton Albion.
Benitez had suggested that David Wagner and his players were feeling the pressure as the season hits the final straight.
But after the 2-1 win over Wigan, he asked his players to look after themselves first.
He said: “The main thing was we got three points and in this mini league of eight games, we are in a good position and we must carry on.
“If the other teams make mistakes, it’s better for us. We have to concentrate on ourselves.”
Newcastle’s performance against the Latics was far from pretty at St James’ Park.
However, Benitez wasn’t too concerned about the performance and said: “The main thing for us was to get three points.
“We knew that it would be difficult after watching Wigan against Aston Villa. They did well.
“We talked about that. We passed the ball well and we had to be sure we defended well.”
But ahead of the game against Burton Albion, Benitez feels there is room for improvement – especially in the final third.
He said: “It is a pity that we had other chances that we didn’t take.
“When we talk about chances, sometimes it’s just the final pass.
“We have had two or three counter-attacks that we could have scored had we passed properly.
“Then we could have relaxed a little bit, but it wasn’t like that.” Benitez with Karl Darlow after yesterday’s win