Sunday 10 September 2017 23:39, UK
Rafa Benitez's assistant has revealed the influence he had on Newcastle's 1-0 win at Swansea despite not being at the game.
Benitez stayed at home and watched the game on television instead after not being well enough to travel to training all week because he is recovering from an infection after hernia surgery.
Although he was in the north-west of England rather than at the Liberty Stadium, his assistant Francisco de Miguel Moreno has detailed the contact the former Liverpool boss had with his staff.
He said: "Rafa was talking with us. Mikel (Antia, coach) was on the touchline and Antonio (Gomez Perez, coach) was in the stands communicating with Rafa.
"Between the four of us we were making a plan of communication and it worked perfectly. After the game Rafa rang and he has congratulated everybody, especially the players.
"They have done a massive job. We are very happy with the performance and so is Rafa. Hopefully he is joining us next week."
Newcastle's win came courtesy of their captain Jamaal Lascelles' header 14 minutes from full-time and it their victory was a deserved one.
It meant they continued building momentum following a 3-0 win over West Ham prior to the international break and they are now up to 10th in the Premier League.
Moreno added: "We are very glad because we planned the game to try and win three points and we did it.
"We were very serious in some stages of the game, we were very compact, disciplined and worked hard together. We were very balanced between defence and attack and we are very pleased with the team."
