Benitez challenges Moussa Sissoko to fire Newcastle to safety

Moussa Sissoko: Netted first of the season on Saturday

Moussa Sissoko: Netted first of the season on Saturday

Rafael Benitez has challenged Moussa Sissoko to become “dangerous” once again as he plots a path out of the Premier League relegation minefield.

The 56-year-old Spaniard appointed the France midfielder as his stand-in captain against Swansea on Saturday with Fabricio Coloccini injured and deputy Jonjo Shelvey sitting on the bench, and was rewarded with Sissoko’s best individual performance for some time as he scored in a precious 3-0 victory.

Benitez will need to see more of the same from the former Toulouse midfielder in the remaining five games of the campaign if the Magpies are to retain their top-flight status, but he has confidence in a player who has borne his fair share of criticism from disgruntled fans this season.

The manager, who will send his side into battle with Champions League semi-finalists Manchester City on Tuesday evening, said: “When I came, a lot of people were giving me information. Since I came, I had that conversation with him.

“He was one of the players that I knew when we were playing against Newcastle was very dangerous. I tried to bring him back and give him this confidence.

“The first day watching his face, he was believing. He was thinking, ‘I can do well’.”

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There were raised eyebrows on Tyneside when Sissoko was handed the captain’s armband with Benitez citing not only his ability on the pitch, but his influence with the club’s French-speaking players, and he has been delighted with the Frenchman’s response.

He said: “Before, he did not have too much confidence. That can happen. It is not question of who is in charge. Some players are doing well, they have more confidence. Some lose confidence little by little.

“The team was not performing and doing well. It’s normal. The first day, I was telling him, ‘You have to score goals, you have to score goals’. He is doing well. He is a good example for the other players.”

If Sissoko and his team-mates are to prosper against City, they will have to find a way to stop Sergio Aguero from adding to his tally of 26 goals for the season, five of them in a 6-1 victory over Newcastle at the Etihad Stadium in October.

Benitez said with a smile: “Hopefully he can score a lot of goals in the Champions League, but not against us.

“To stop him, it’s not just about one player, you have to work as a team. But they have so many good players that you can’t concentrate on just Aguero.”