Newcastle United manager Rafa Benitez has revealed that he was never worried about the club's promotion chances even after losing back-to-back Championship games at the start of the season.
Despite strong summer business, many were suddenly concerned that the Magpies would sink rather than bounce in the second tier. Yet a calm Benitez has been proven right following five straights wins, scoring 15 and conceding only once in that run so far.
"I don't think we played well in the first two games but we weren't as bad as people said," the former Real Madrid, Chelsea and Liverpool coach is quoted as saying by the local Chronicle.
"They said we deserved to lose, I don't think so. But we can't change that," he added of those opening defeats at the hands of Fulham and then early pace-setters Huddersfield.
Newcastle bagged a maiden win against Reading and then backed that up with another three points against Bristol City within a matter of days. Things have snowballed since then, and on Wednesday fans enjoyed a 6-0 demolition of QPR, away from home, to boot.
RAFA and #NUFC win the LMA's 'LG Performance of the Week' award for 6-0 win at QPR
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"We had a difficult game away at Bristol and it showed sometimes you can win without playing really well. At QPR we had both things, we played well and got the result," Benitez explained.
"Maybe against Fulham or Huddersfield we could have got a draw and it would have been totally different. You have to do things well, look forward and try to improve your team."
Following Huddersfield's loss to playoff chasing Brighton on Tuesday, Newcastle now sit just one point behind the league leaders and will be confident of a sixth consecutive win and the chance to put more pressure on whenbottom half Wolves visit St James' Park on Saturday.
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