Chancel Mbemba has praised the impact of boss Rafa Benitez since his arrival at Newcastle last month.

"As a young player, it is absolutely fantastic to work with Rafa Benitez," said the defender who joined from Anderlecht last summer. "He's a fantastic coach and fantastic man manager."

Newcastle remain second from bottom of the table, three points adrift of fourth-bottom Norwich, but with a game in hand.

"Football is a strange game but we just need to keep working hard to make sure we grind out those results," added the DR Congo international.

"We need to do that for the fans - they deserve that and it's what we are working hard to do.

"It's the same for any game, you have to go into it believing you can win. We need to make sure we give the performance the fans want from us.

"They deserve it, they are always behind us and give us great motivation, so we will go out there and give 100 per cent for the shirt and the fans."