RAFAEL BENITEZ has aimed a subtle dig at long-term adversary Sam Allardyce by questioning whether Everton’s sudden improvement is down to the former Newcastle United, Sunderland and England boss.

Allardyce will be back at St James’ Park as Newcastle host Everton tonight, looking to extend his new employers’ three-game unbeaten run since he was appointed as manager.

Benitez and Allardyce clashed repeatedly when the former was manager of Liverpool and the latter was in charge of Bolton Wanderers, with Allardyce using his autobiography to claim that Liverpool’s remarkable comeback in the 2005 Champions League final had “nothing to do” with Benitez.

The pair insist they have subsequently buried the hatchet, but Benitez could not resist a thinly-veiled swipe at his managerial rival as he looked ahead to tonight’s Tyneside tussle. Everton have surged up the table since Allardyce was appointed, but given that David Unsworth oversaw the crucial 4-0 win over West Ham that kick-started the Toffees’ revival, Benitez has questioned where praise should be attributed.

“They (Everton) were a very good team,” said the Newcastle boss. “They needed to change something, and they changed something and then they won. But I don’t think it was an issue because they were a bad team.

“It was just (they needed) a couple of good games because they have players with qualities. Now they have a new manager, and it’s fine. But when he was in the stands they won 4-0, so it’s not because you changed and they are a better team now. They were (already) a better team and they have more confidence because they have already won a couple of games.”

Jamaal Lascelles will return to Newcastle’s starting line-up this evening, with Christian Atsu also primed to start. However, Paul Dummett will remain on the sidelines as he completes his recovery from a hamstring injury.

Lascelles damaged his foot in the 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth at the start of last month, and has been forced to sit out the last six games.

The Magpies skipper was an unused substitute in Saturday’s 3-2 defeat to Leicester City, but with another couple of days of training under his belt, is expected to start tonight in place of Florian Lejeune.

“He was nearly there (at the weekend),” said Benitez. “He was on the bench and nearly there in terms of his fitness. Now he is a little bit better so we will decide. When something is wrong, it is always good to have players with personality and character.”

While Lascelles is ready to return, Dummett is unlikely to feature and is also expected to miss Saturday’s game at Arsenal.

The left-back played for an hour of an Under-23s game last Friday, but Newcastle’s medical staff want to continue to progress slowly given that he has been out of action since damaging his hamstrings on the opening weekend of the season.

“He is getting better but he is still a little bit short,” said Benitez. “He played 60 minutes with the Under-23s the other day, but he is probably still a little short.

“We are missing Dummett. Some people were criticising Dummett last year, but now the same people are saying we need him.

“We have lost the only left-back we have. We have had three or four players injured at the same time. Hopefully, if everyone is available, we can be as solid as we were at the beginning of the season.”

Newcastle (probable, 4-4-2): Darlow; Yedlin, Lascelles, Clark, Manquillo; Ritchie, Hayden, Merino, Atsu; Gayle, Joselu.