Magpies’ midweek Cup setback Nott a reason to panic, says defiant Rafa
BENITEZ KEEN TO PLAY DOWN FOREST LOSS
RAFA Benitez refused to panic in the aftermath of Newcastle United’s League Cup exit at Nottingham Forest.
The Toon chief faced the media at the City Ground and said his troops must keep going after a difficult start to the campaign which has yielded just a single point so far in the Premier League.
It does not get much easier against Manchester City on Saturday teatime and the Magpies have been handed odds of 20/1 with William Hill to get three points for a victory at the Etihad Stadium.
Newcastle only managed one shot on target at the City Ground but Benitez was not too concerned about such a statistic, he said: “The positive was another striker scored a goal and that is good for confidence.
“Some of the situations we had in the first half we were very close.
“It is not like if you don’t create a shot on target you don’t have chances to score.
“We did not hit the target but the other day we had two shots on target and Chelsea only three and everybody was talking about their win.
“When you have chances you have to take them. One thing you have to improve is your final pass.
“The deliveries need to be better to be sure the strikers have more chances.”
Benitez felt life was made trickier by the fact he was trying to bed in new players at Forest - something which has been forced upon him due to a lack of depth in his squad.
He said: “The team was difficult when you have new players, the understanding.
“I tried Kenedy as a left full-back and you expect he has to learn in different positions.
“Longstaff and Sterry did well. Given they are young they overall played well.”
Forest won all the plaudits from neutral pundits following the 3-1 win but Benitez was not convinced they put in a sparkling performance many people claimed. He added: “I don’t agree Forest were the better team and I am not concerned by how we played. “We did not create many chances so we need to improve in attack and keep working hard. “It is a long season, we need it was going to be hard but we have confidence in ourselves.” The clash against Forest ended in stormy scenes as Ayoze Perez was flattened by Luke Steele for a clear penalty. Perez left the field trying to get at the referee and even Forest boss Aitor Karanka could see the situation from United’s point of view. He added: “I can understand Newcastle’s frustrations throughout the game. “However, we have a very good squad, good strikers and showed we are clinical at the end. “It was great to win against a Premier League team of their quality and experience. “We never give in until the end and we showed that again.”
I don’t agree Forest were the better team and I am not concerned at how we played ... we have confidence Rafa Benitez