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Rafa Benitez has made it clear that Newcastle United must sign another centre-back in good time before the new season kicks off.

The Spaniard is keen on Blackburn Rovers captain Grant Hanley with two bids turned down for the Scotland international this summer.

Hanley is now also wanted by promotion rivals Norwich City but Benitez is eager to fill one of the centre-back slots after losing Steven Taylor and Fabricio Coloccini already this summer.

After leading his team to a 6-0 win over Bohemians, Benitez told the Chronicle he could have landed a new player before the next friendly at Doncaster Rovers on Wednesday night.

Benitez said: “I hope so.

“We are working hard.

“Lee Charnley knows we need bodies to have all of the positions covered.

“We are short of centre-backs.

“We had to manage that with the minutes and positions.

“It is clear that in some positions we need bodies.

“I think we will have somebody soon.”

Newcastle are set to assess the fitness of both Aleksandar Mitrovic and Rolando Aarons ahead of the game at Doncaster with both leaving the field early in Dublin.

Benitez also didn’t want to risk Adam Armstrong after the Geordie striker picked up a thigh injury on England duty last month.

Speaking about Mitrovic, though, Benitez dismissed any injury concerns for fans who thought he’d suffered a bad injury against Bohemians.

He said: “It was a knock on his ankle, nothing serious.”