Rafa Benitez will be hoping his players can reward the love shown by the Toon Army this season when his players take on Norwich City on Valentine’s Day.
The Magpies sit top of the Championship table following a hard fought 1-0 victory at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.
Big 3 points today! Lads stuck together and dug deep for that result! go again Tuesday! travelling support ???????? #NUFC
— Isaac Hayden (@IsaacHayden65) February 11, 2017
They will need that spirit and determination again, if not even more, when heading to Carrow Road to take on an in-form Norwich side.
The Canaries have recovered from a Christmas slump in form to pick up 13 points from the last 15 available, with Alex Neil’s men firmly back in the hunt for a promotion place.
Norwich dismantled Nottingham Forest 5-1 at home on Saturday having gone 3-0 up inside the opening 20 minutes.
Benitez will know his side must not allow such a thing to occur again on Tuesday and will hope his side’s impressive defensive record this campaign holds true once more.
At the other end of the pitch, Dwight Gayle is back in the United squad following a return from injury.
The former Crystal Palace man leads the league with 20 goals this season and was the star of the show the last time these two sides met.
Newcastle reversed a 3-1 scoreline that night to win 4-3, with Gayle netting a hat-trick.
And boss Benitez believes the return of their top goalscorer will be a boost to everyone associated with the Tyneside club.
“We have Dwight Gayle in the squad, so that’s good news,” The Chronicle quote Benitez as saying.
“It’s important to have the top scorer back, and it’s a boost for everyone.
“We have 25 players available so it’s a problem for me, but it’s a good problem too. It’s a boost.”
With Daryl Murphy and Aleksandar Mitrovic both fully-fit and in goal scoring form, it will be interesting to see whether Benitez thrusts Gayle straight back into the starting XI or allows one of his able deputies to continue in the striking berth.
In a fixture that has produced 20 goals in the last three contests*, these two sides usually guarantee a fantastic game of football and a lot of action.
With that in mind, Newcastle fans everywhere will be hoping the club can continue their excellent away record this season and extend their stay at the top of the Championship come Tuesday night.
*Newcastle United 6-2 Norwich City (18/10/15), Norwich City 3-2 Newcastle United (2/4/16), Newcastle United 4-3 Norwich City (28/9/16)
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