These two players have blown away Steve Bruce at Newcastle United

Fernandez, in the last year of his contract, has impressed Steve Bruce this season along with defensive colleague Ciaran Clark, who came close to leaving St James's Park last summer.

Fernandez and Clark, superb in the weekend’s 1-0 win over Chelsea, are likely to be in the starting XI for tonight’s Premier League game against Everton at Goodison Park.

“Since Clark has come into the team, I’ve thought he’s been excellent,” said head coach Bruce. “Just before he got injured, he was performing very well. Feddy’s a top-class pro. He’s in first, he’s the last to leave, and he’s always in the gym working hard. He defends well.

“They’re both naturally good defenders, which is what you want your centre-backs to be. Everybody seems to be ball-playing centre-backs now. It’s nice to see two good centre-backs doing what they’re doing.”