Newcastle United news: Benitez faces media ahead of Barnsley, Diame decision explained

Benitez's side will be backed by almost 6,000 fans against Barnsley tomorrow night.

And United's manager is holding a Press conference at 1pm ahead of the Championship fixture.

For news and updates from Benitez's media call, go to our live blog here.

Newcastle beat Brentford 3-1 on Saturday to move up to second place in the league.

Benitez left Mohamed Diame out of his starting XI at St James's Park, and he has explained the decision to name the midfielder on the bench.

Matt Ritchie missed out through sickness.

But he was adamant he could play, and Benitez has revealed what the winger told him before the match.

Ayoze Perez was recalled to the starting XI, and the forward has been talking about a "hard" spell out of the team.

Finally, Benitez has identified one player that improves his team when he's playing well. Find out which player here.