Newcastle United host Leeds United in a crucial game towards the top of the Championship on Friday.
Leeds United manager Garry Monk shakes hands with Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez
Rafa Benitez has suggested that he has been extremely impressed by the work that Garry Monk has done ahead of Leeds’ trip to face Newcastle on Friday, the Yorkshire Evening Post reports.
The clash at St James’ Park pits two of the division’s high-flyers against each other, and yet, they still have slightly different ambitions from the final five games of the regular season.
The Magpies are looking to secure their automatic-promotion spot as soon as possible, while Leeds are hoping to hold on to their play-off spot, which would arguably become fairly precarious if they suffer defeat against Newcastle.
And ahead of the game, Benitez has commented on the work that Monk has done at Elland Road, especially given how difficult a start he endured with the club back in the summer.
“Garry has done a great job,” he said, as reported by the Yorkshire Evening Post. “He is a good manager. I could see in the beginning that they were under pressure but he is a great manager. He is still young and he has great potential.”
Leeds United manager Garry Monk
With Leeds suffering a fairly comfortable defeat to Newcastle in the previous meeting between the two back in November, they will surely be wanting to look at this fixture as an opportunity to prove just how far they have come this season as a whole, but especially since that defeat.
But with Newcastle likely to put one foot in the Premier League with a win, it will surely require Monk to prove just how much potential he possesses to prevent from the Magpies from securing a big result.
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