Jamaal Lascelles and Mohamed Diame fought at Newcastle training
The pair found themselves in the headlines after they came to blows during the international break, with Jonjo Shelvey suffering a broken finger as he intervened.
Newcastle manager Rafael Benitez has played down the incident but insisted he had to take no action as the players involved came up with their own remedy.
Benitez said: “It was a surprise. It was part of a small training game and there was a fight. Jonjo was in the middle so he was making peace and everything was fine.
“After the incident, they apologised to each other. Maybe they will buy lunch for everyone – it was Mo’s idea to take the team out to lunch. I don’t know when or how they will do it.”
Speaking about the incident, Benitez, whose side travel to Southampton tomorrow, said: “I have seen worse than that over the years.
“When you are in the middle of a game and you’re losing or winning, players can react in different ways. It is nothing, there are lots worse than that. Later on they were fine and they have been training fine without anything special since.”
Mauricio Pellegrino has Benitez there be no room for sentiment when he comes up against his managerial mentor tomorrow.
Southampton boss Pellegrino played under Benitez at Liverpool and Valencia and was also part of the Spaniard’s Anfield backroom staff.
And Pellegrino said: “It is an important game for us because we need the win. We have a lot of negative influence in our society. In football you have to sacrifice each other to be better.”
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