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Rafa Wants Confidence, But Not Complacency
Written by Newcastle Utd
Rafa Benitez says Newcastle now have "belief" that they can avoid the drop - but only if they continue to match the standards they've set over the last four games
By Dan King - Newcastle United Digital Editor
Rafa Benitez has steered his Newcastle United side out of the bottom three for now, but the Magpies' manager is refusing to get carried away or rest on his laurels.
Saturday's win over Crystal Palace saw United leapfrog Sunderland and Norwich City and move away from the relegation zone for the first time since February.
A four-match unbeaten run has given Newcastle a chance of avoiding the drop - a scenario which looked extremely unlikely just a few weeks ago.
But United's rivals both have a game in hand and Benitez knows his players can't afford to let their standards slip in their final two matches of the campaign.
"We have to have the belief, but still to avoid complacency," he told nufcTV.
"We have to be sure that we do all we have to do, train properly, prepare for the game against Aston Villa the right way and try to win.
"You can't change what they (Sunderland and Norwich) do so you have to try to do your best and that's it.
"If they cannot win, it's better; if they lose, even better. But you can't have any influence. The only thing that you can do is to concentrate and be sure that your team is doing well."
Andros Townsend fired home Newcastle's winning goal on Saturday, while Karl Darlow's penalty save from former Magpie Yohan Cabaye sealed a vital three points.
And Benitez admitted: "We knew that we had to do well, we knew that we had to win, and the first half was quite difficult.
"Physically, (Crystal Palace) are strong so we knew it could be like that, but we improved in the second half. We were passing the ball much better and that was the difference.
"It was a great goal from Andros Townsend, but the team played better and a great save from Darlow made the difference."
United travel to already-relegated Aston Villa on Saturday but while things have not gone well for the Villans this term, Benitez is expecting another tough fixture.
"I think that they will try to play well in front of their fans in the last home game of the season," he warned.
"We will try to get three points because we need these three points to be sure that we can fight until the end."
You can watch the full nufcTV interview with Rafa Benitez here