Simon Grayson hails Rafa Benitez, Newcastle and the club's 'fanatical support'

Preston North End side were convincingly beaten 6-0 in the EFL Cup at St James's Park last night.

Aleksandar Mitrovic and Mohamed Diame both netted twice, while Matt Ritchie and Ayoze Perez also found the net in front of a huge 49,042 crowd.

The two clubs meet again in the Championship at Deepdale on Saturday.

McCarthy and Heckingbottom backed league leaders Newcastle to return to the Premier League at the first attempt after Ipswich Town and Barnsley were beaten by Benitez's side.

Asked if Uninted were on "another level" to other Championship clubs, Grayson said: "Based on (last night) they certainly are.

"And when you read reports from the last few games, and when you listen to Mick McCarthy at the weekend, whose team got beat 3-0 with his strongest team, he said anybody who finishes above Newcastle will get promoted.

"That’s why they have got the players that they’ve got. They’ve got the manager that this time last year was at Real Madrid. That’s why they’ve got the fanatical support they’ve got.

"It’s a club geared for success. They had a bad year last year. So everyone expected at the start of the season for Newcastle to be up there if not runaway with the league."

On league rematch, Grayson added: "We might have something to prove at the weekend."