Rafa Benitez is not happy about Newcastle United’s transfer activity, but his mood on the training ground is very different, according to full-back Paul Dummett.

The United manager has hidden his concerns about the lack of signings whenever he is working with the players who head back into the Premier League tomorrow with a home game against Tottenham

“He is really positive around the training ground,” Dummett said. “ I do not think he could be negative around the team because I would say it would only bring the team down.

“I have never seen him be upset about the signings around the players. He obviously would not want that because you do not want to be going into a season when the whole team is down. You want to be positive and ready to go.”

Dummett’s upbeat assessment of United’s preparations is in contrast to the verdict of Danny Rose, who fills his left-back role in the Spurs team and has been critical about the shortage of new faces at White Hart Lane.

“As a Newcastle player, I would never say anything like what he has come out with,” Dummett said. “We are all in a positive mood and ready for the Premier League, so I would never get drawn into whatever he has been wanting to say. We are just happy to be back in this league and are ready to go.”

Dummett certainly believes Newcastle United can hit the ground running tomorrow and benefit from their promotion success in the Championship.

“We have had one season in the Championship which everyone enjoyed because we won a lot of games and got back that winning mentality. There is a feelgood factor around the training ground.

“Since I have been at the club, I don’t think the team spirit has been as good as we have now. It’s important and shows it with the likes of Burnley, Bournemouth and Leicester.

“When they won the league, everyone knows Leicester did not have the best squad in the league with the best players. But with their team spirit and togetherness and how hard they worked for each other, it just shows anything is possible.

“We know we have a squad which works hard for each other and that is our main aim. If teams are going to be better quality than us, then our team as a whole has to be better than them. Hopefully that can bring us results this season.”

Newcastle start their season against the team they beat 5-1 at St James’ Park in their last game before going down in 15 months ago.

Dummett said:”Hopefully, we will do the same again this game. They are one of the best teams in the league with some of the best players so we know we have a tough task on our hands.

“Look at the players they have got going forward. With the England striker and the England attacking midfielder,, they have quality there.

“They have nearly won the league the last few years so we know it is going to be a big task for us, but it is one we are capable of doing. We just have to go out there, work hard as a team and, if we do that, anything can happen.

“We have prepared all pre-season with our fitness and games, preparing for this first game of the season and we hope to start with a positive result.”