Rafa Benitez to take Newcastle training on Wednesday after being off sick for week with hernia infection
RAFA BENITEZ is planning to take Newcastle training on Wednesday after being off sick for a week.
The Toon boss missed the build-up to his team's 1-0 win at Swansea on Sunday and was also absent from the Liberty Stadium as he recovered from surgery to a hernia infection.
Newcastle's stars again trained without their absent manager today.
But Benitez hopes to leave his family home in the Wirral and come back up to Tyneside to take Wednesday's session when the players return from their scheduled day off today.
Benitez may have been absent in South Wales, but that didn’t stop him masterminding Newcastle’s win at the Liberty.
The Magpies boss was at home but still found the strength to give his backroom staff orders during the game over the phone.
No2 Miguel ‘Paco’ Moreno took charge of Newcastle on the day and said: “Rafa called us in the dressing room after the game to say congratulations.
“He congratulated everybody, especially the players because they did a massive job.
“We all wanted to win for the manager and we did that. We now look forward to him returning.”
Skipper Jamaal Lascelles sealed the win with a header from Matt Ritchie’s 77th-minute corner.
The goal hero said: “They mark zonal and I prefer to go against that.
“Matt Ritchie’s deliveries are on a plate every time so it was just down to me to put it in the back of the net.
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“Overall it was a great team performance and the lads dug deep with the same mentality as against West Ham.
“We’ve set the standard now and have to keep that.
“The gaffer rang me this morning and said, ‘Make sure the boys are on it’ and to start well. He was watching and hopefully gets well and can be back with us soon.”
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