Confidence is key to fortune turnaround
RAFA Benitez has once again underlined the importance of Newcastle United’s first win of the season against Watford – insisting it changed the mood around the club’s Benton base in the build-up to Saturday’s victory over Bournemouth.
The Toon boss is big on building confidence and told his players during their 10-game winless streak that he still believed in them.
He also told them that their luck would turn eventually and after back-to-back wins, he feels the fans are now seeing the fruits of the players’ labour.
After victory saw Newcastle rise to 14th place in the Premier League table, Benitez said: “We said last week it was important to win the first game.
“Then against Bournemouth we got the first goal so that brought more confidence.
“When you play at home, you have the fans behind the players so everything that we tried to do and explain to everyone we did really well.
“The fans appreciated it and the players gave everything.
“It’s good news for us if we can carry on doing it.”
However, United had to dig deep for their three points and did so without key figures such as Jonjo Shelvey and Jamaal Lascelles with Yoshinori Muto also sitting the game out.
Benitez was delighted with the contributions of the likes of Ki, Ayoze Perez and Fabian Schar who came into the side to replace the trio.
The former Liverpool and Inter Milan manager added: “It is not easy for a team when they are fighting at the bottom of the table.
“But to lose three players is even harder. We still performed at the level we did so you have to be really pleased and give credit to our players for that.
“We knew that Bournemouth were a team that were doing really well.
“The same with Watford. To fight the way we fight and play the way we play and get the three points is a massive bonus for us.
“Hopefully more are to follow.”
Newcastle now have two weeks to patch up some of the knocks and niggles in the squad but Benitez also faces an anxious wait for some of his players to return from international duty.