The 'mini-league' starts now, says Rafa

The Magpies welcome Wigan Athletic to St. James’ Park on Saturday, the first of two outings on home soil this week.

United sit at the summit of the Championship heading into the weekend, one point clear of Brighton & Hove Albion and a further six ahead of third-placed Huddersfield Town.

Newcastle have beaten their two closest rivals over the last month, but – after a three-game winless stretch – both the Seagulls and the Terriers have made up ground once more.

And, with just over a month of the campaign remaining, Benitez has called for everyone at the club to “stick together” as the race for the Premier League reaches a climax.

“I have said to the players, ‘We have eight games – it is a mini-league.’ If we can be at the top of that mini-league, we will be fine. We have to approach it the same way as we have during the season. We have to start with one game, and after that, we will look at the next one,” he said.

“We are not thinking, ‘We have to win this one, this one and this one.’ You have seen Huddersfield, I think they are feeling the pressure, because they went to play against Bristol City and lost. It is something that can happen to anyone. We just have to concentrate on one game, and get three points.

“Now is the time to stick together, and support the players, making sure they will not feel that pressure in a bad way, but feel it in a good way, in terms of even more effort.”

Opponents Wigan lie second-bottom – seven points from safety – after recording just two wins in their last ten outings.

The Latics have already dismissed two managers this season, with Warren Joyce – a replacement for Gary Caldwell – shown the door earlier this month.

Joyce’s assistant, seasoned campaigner Graham Barrow, has been handed the reins until the end of the campaign, with Saturday’s clash just the second of his tenure.

After going more than a month without a victory at St. James’ Park, however, Benitez insists that Newcastle will be taking nothing for granted against the Greater Manchester outfit, and has called for his charges to focus solely on their own game.

“Wigan have changed manager, and sometimes that can be good in terms of their mentality, and sometimes it is bad because you need time to settle down and understand their new ideas. In their last game (against Aston Villa), I think they did well, even if they didn’t win,” he said.

“We just have to concentrate on ourselves. If we think too much about them, we will lose our focus. Our focus is to play at the level we have been playing at for the major part of the season, and do well at home. We have done that in the past, apart from some games. In some of those, we didn’t play well, but in others, we were unlucky. Now, we have an opportunity to improve our home record.”