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Jonjo Shelvey says that Newcastle United players must repay their supporters this season after taking the club into the Sky Bet Championship.

With just 10 days to go until the big kick-off for United, Shelvey has admitted that Newcastle deserved to be relegated but has warned his team-mates they can’t afford to feel sorry for themselves.

The Magpies take on League One side Southend United (7.45pm) tonight at Roots Hall with the opening game with Fulham just around the corner.

Ahead of the tough 46-game programme in the EFL, Shelvey said: “I don’t think you can feel sorry yourself, and this certainly doesn’t feel like a club that’s feeling sorry for itself because of what happened.

“We obviously deserved to go down because we weren’t good enough last year. It is what it is, and we are where we are, but it’s down to us now to put things right.

“We’ve brought in some tremendous signings, and it’s obviously another big plus with the manager staying.

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“He’ll be giving it his best shot to try to get us out of the Championship. It’s down to us now to repay the fans for sticking by us.”

Newcastle are unbeaten in three pre-season games against Bohemians, Doncaster and Sporting Lokeren and have rattled in 12 goals so far.

Shelvey netted the latest strike for Rafa Benitez’s side with his long-range effort deflected into the net in Belgium.

The player made it clear he was claiming the goal when pointing to his chest on Saturday afternoon and after shedding several pounds in the summer, he admits he is loving life with the Magpies again.

He said: “There’s nothing better than being back playing games, that’s what you want to do as a footballer.

“You want to play as many games as you can in the short space of time before the season begins, because that’s the best way to get fit and sharp.

“It’s good to be back out there.”

Meanwhile, Southend boss Phil Brown looked ahead to tonight’s game and said: “Rafa is a determined man, he will want to win every pre-season friendly, the same as I will.

“But the bottom line is that it’s not about the result, it’s about the performance.

“We are looking forward to the game, but it will be a tough test.”