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Burnley travel to St. James’ Park tonight to face a Newcastle United side whose manager Rafa Benitez will be keeping a close eye on the transfer window once the game is all finished.

He’s expecting deals to go through during the game and admitted he’ll be pleased when the window closes so he can then work with the players he has.

Will it be a case of juggling the day with the game and the window, he was asked. “Normally I don’t have problems when it comes to concentrating on the game,” Benitez said. “We have done that this month and we have prepared for each match. We have a lot of staff and each one has his own responsibilities. The job before the game is done.

“I will concentrate in the afternoon on the game and after it we will still have some time to know where we are.”

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Benitez, who adds new loan signing Kenedy to his squad for tonight’s game, spoke about the Clarets and in particular our manager. “He is doing well,” he said. “I said managers, they know the division, now they know the players and they create this atmosphere that everybody is working hard for the team, so that is a bonus always.

“They are a good team, well organised, they know what they have to do to get points, so I think it will be tough, but to be fair any game in the Premier League is tough. We know we have to do well if we want to get three points, and we have confidence we can do that.

“It’s the Premier League, and whether you play home or away the rivals are very strong. The main thing for us is to get three points. If it’s at home, I’ll be happy for our fans too, but because it’s the next game, it doesn’t matter where it is, we will try to get three points.”

Sean Dyche said of Newcastle: “They got some good points on the board early on. They’ve had a bit of a challenge over the last run of games which, as I have suggested, can happen to anyone outside the top six.

“There’s a lot of noise been made from outside the club, and sometimes from inside, about signings or should they have signed more, or should they sign different players etc. But that’s all talk. For us, it’s to concentrate and focus on the game.

“They’re still a good side, they still work very hard, they’ve got some experience and an energy to their performances. Lately they’ve found it tougher to come by results, as have we.

“There are a lot of deciding factors in football, but all the noise outside the pitch, we let others talk about that. I can assure you, with the players, we’re focusing on when the whistle blows, the players being ready to go and play.”

He added: “We don’t take anything for granted. We continue not to take anything for granted because that gives clarity, knowing we’ve got to go and perform. Whether it’s against these top managers or teams, as soon as the whistle blows we’ve got to show we’re ready to perform and we have made a good show of that over a season so far.

“We want that to continue and, of course, add in those little details that can turn it the right way and win matches for us.”

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