Newcastle United boss Rafa Benitez is confident Florian Lejeune will fight back from his knee injury.

Lejeune is struggling to be fit for the start of next season an will have a knee ligament operation next week, hoping to be back in four months at the quickest. He was carried off after a “click" in his knee against Crystal Palace last weekend.

Benitez said: “The first couple of days he was a little bit down, but he knows what he has to do.

“Hopefully it will be between four and five months if everything is fine. But you have to wait and see what the surgeon is saying. It's bad luck."