Newcastle United winger Kenedy has struggled for form at St. James’ Park this season.
Rafael Benitez has defended Newcastle United winger Kenedy in the Chronicle.
Kenedy has endured a disappointing season at Newcastle this time around, and he has been starved of first-team football of late.
The Brazilian was thrown on in Newcastle’s last match against Brighton & Hove Albion though, but he failed to make much of an impact.
Kenedy replaced Ayoze Perez, who got injured after 30 minutes, but the Chelsea loanee did little to assert himself on the game.
Newcastle were 1-0 up when Kenedy came on to the field, but ended up drawing the game 1-1.
However, Benitez insists that Kenedy was not the only Newcastle player who can be blamed for the loss of points.
“I think he was trying, but if you analyse the second half, it was not just him,” Benitez said. “A lot of players didn’t have the same confidence and control as they had before then.”
Kenedy’s poor form at Newcastle is made all the more frustrating as he was one of the Magpies key players last season.
It seems as if Kenedy will almost certainly return to Chelsea in the summer now, with Newcastle highly unlikely to pursue a permanent deal.
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