Working in wrong way

Anxious wait for Slimani over ‘kick’

ISLAM Slimani must wait to see if he faces FA action after kicking out at West Brom’s Craig Dawson during the 1-0 defeat against the Baggies at St James’ Park.

It could mean that Slimani’s stint at Newcastle is over this season if the FA decide to hand him a three-game ban.

Slimani missed a chunk of games through injury after joining the club on loan from Leicester City and was then unable to play against his parent club at the Kingpower Stadium.

When asked about the incident, Rafa Benitez said: “Someone told me, but during the game, I couldn’t see anything, so we will see.”

The incident was spotted by the BBC cameras and the footage suggested there could be retrospective action.

After the game West Brom’s caretaker boss Darren Moore spoke about his side’s performance, and said: “We had to be willing to stand up to the Newcastle pressure which we knew would be coming. “Everyone did exactly that. “There was some good resolute defending and the players got their reward for a wonderful performance.” NEWCASTLE United boss Rafa Benitez has denied there is a motivation issue at St James’ Park.

The Magpies were defeated on home soil for the first time in 2018 as West Brom grabbed an impressive victory thanks to Matt Phillips’ goal.

When asked if his side were thinking about the summer break, Benitez said: “We were working hard, but we were doing it in the wrong way, so we were in the wrong positions, going late and when we were on the ball, we were giving the ball away.

“It’s not that we were not trying, I think we were trying in the wrong way.”

Newcastle have now been beaten twice in the space of a week, with Benitez admitting that a drop in form is only natural.

He said: ““Sometimes it can happen, but still it’s not nice to see your team, when they have been doing so well with so much intensity, making so many mistakes.”