Diame hoping to end season on top form

NEWCASTLE midfielder Mo Diame admits he is enjoying his football this season and hopes to continue his recent good form into the rest of this campaign.

Diame was in and out of the side in the first half of this season but has impressed in 2018, cementing himself in Rafa Benitez’s starting line-up.

The former Senegalese international has started every game since the turn of the year and is beginning to forge a strong understanding with Jonjo Shelvey in the centre of midfield.

For Diame, the two-week international break comes at the worst possible time but he is confident of carrying his recent good form into the rest of the season.

He said: “When you are in good form you want to keep going and the break can be a bad thing.

“It is good to keep going and play game after game and training after training and keep the same attitude and the high fitness.

“I am enjoying it a lot. It is what I wanted since the beginning but unfortunately, it could not happen, so now I am trying to enjoy it a lot better. I need to make sure I stay at a high level.”

The Magpies kept themselves ticking over last week with a four-day training camp in Spain, culminating in a 1-1 friendly draw with Belgian side Royal Antwerp.

Diame banked another 45 minutes at the Pinatar Arena as Matt Ritchie’s strike was cancelled out by Alexander Corryn’s equaliser.

It was a competitive game that bordered on becoming fiery at times and Diame feels it will stand the Magpies in good stead heading into the final eight games of the campaign.

He added: “It was a friendly game where we needed to keep the shape and keep this team in the same attitude and fitness.

“It was more for the fitness than anything but it was important.

“I think the Belgian team thought they were going to play against an English team, so they said ‘we have to fight and make some tackles’, because when they watch the Premier League that it is, physically, a big battle, so they were prepared for that.”

Rafa Benitez’s side currently sit four points clear of the bottom three and could pull further clear with a win over Huddersfield next Saturday.

Diame insists the Magpies will be treating that fixture like a ‘final.’

He said: “It is going to be another final, like the game we won before (against Southampton). It is going to be a massive game at home. Three points is the goal for us.”