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Rafa Benitez has warned his Newcastle players that they will be the losers if the club gets relegated.

The Spanish boss has told Toon stars who think they will be able to walk away from the wreckage of a miserable season that ultimately it is they who will pay the price.

Benitez says players will “lose value,” mess up their family lives, wreck their footballing CV, and end up at smaller clubs.

The former Liverpool and Chelsea gaffer remains convinced he can guide Newcastle to safety in an eight-game scramble starting at fellow strugglers Norwich.

But he has held talks with small groups of Newcastle players to make sure they know the consequences of failure.

(Image: Stu Forster/Getty)

Benitez was asked yesterday whether players care about going down, with many knowing they will get another lucrative contract elsewhere.

He said: “It will not be easy to say: ‘Oh I will go.’ It’s not easy when you’re not doing well at your job to get a better job.

“They lose value. The players lose value. I don’t think that anyone wants to go down because it will be negative for everyone if we go down.

“I think it’s difficult but at the same time it’s very simple. They know that we are responsible for the situation.

“They know that next year if something is wrong they have to do their best to change things.

In pictures: Newcastle 1-1 Sunderland

“Because we are professionals, failure affects the CV. Then there’s the money, moving family, everything. My players want to stay in the Premier League.

“To feel the passion of the fans supporting you here when you are doing well is something they maybe won’t find at other places.”

Though Newcastle are heavy odds-on at 2-5 to go down, Benitez insists his players care enough to fight their way out of a difficult situation.

He added: “We have players here who have been in football for a while.

“The other day I had a conversation with two of them – it’s not necessary to explain too many things. Then after that I had a conversation with another three, and the same feeling.

(Image: TGSPhoto/REX)

“So they know how important it is to stay in the Premier League.”

Benitez described the trip to Carrow Road as “massive” but refused to label it a must-win game. Defeat doesn’t bear thinking about for Toon fans - if Norwich win they will move six points clear.

With Toon facing serious injury problems, Moussa Sissoko has trained as an emergency left-back.

Benitez explained: “In every game he has played on the left and in the last one he was left-back and was fantastic. He knows he has to do whatever he has to do. So I think the atmosphere has been very positive.

“The players realise it is time to do things better because, if not, we cannot win.”