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Rafa Benitez will shun a scarf-waving introduction to the Newcastle crowd – because he wants his players to take the spotlight.

The United manager says the supporters will not need the pantomime of a grand unveiling ahead of the North East derby because they’ll be noisy enough.

Benitez said: “I don’t usually (go onto the pitch). Maybe a wave before the game because the fans wave and they were really good at Leicester. I like these things, but I’m not the type of manager that goes into the middle of the pitch.

“If I can guarantee that it would make a difference then I would, but I don’t think our fans will need anything. They will, for sure, be supporting the team.”

(Image: Getty)

Benitez is backing striker Aleksandar Mitrovic to come good as his key striker, despite not looking like the goal scorer Newcastle need.

The Spaniard said: “When I was watching games on the TV I could see that he has great potential. After training with him, he’s working very hard. I can see he’s a young player with great potential.

“He can score goals and again I will go back to the confidence speech. The team needs more confidence. The team needs to improve in defence and if you do that maybe you will improve in attack because you will regain the ball, you will have more possession and then you can create chances and score goals.

“For strikers it depends on the team but he knows what he has to do and we are trying to tell the people around him what he’s capable of doing, so they can try and help him.”

In pictures - Leicester 1-0 Newcastle: