RAFAEL BENITEZ has challenged Newcastle United’s players to prove they are better than they have already shown this season.

The Magpies boss has overseen seven victories from 11 so far in his first year in the Championship and they sit third behind Norwich City and Huddersfield.

There have been some impressive performances, like the 6-0 thumping of Queens Park Rangers, or the remarkable comeback to edge a seven-goal thriller against Norwich.

But Newcastle have shown weaknesses too, even though they have only lost once since opening the campaign with back-to-back defeats against Fulham and Huddersfield.

Benitez has regularly rotated his players too, and that will only continue because he feels it is the best way to attack a division that is crammed with midweek fixtures.

But he is convinced Newcastle still need to find a way of hitting top gear more often if they want to go on and finish in the top two.

“I am quite happy, although still not 100 per cent satisfied because we are not at the top of the table,” said Benitez. “In terms of how things are going, I think we are going in the right direction.

“I probably sound like a broken record because I am saying this all the time, but I can still see room for improvement. For me, that is quite a positive thing though.

“I can see that the team has to improve. A lot of things are going well, but there are also a lot of things that can still be a lot better.”

Newcastle return to action at St James’ Park this Saturday against Brentford and head for Barnsley four days later. Both teams are in touch with the play-offs after making positives starts to the campaign.

The players who have not been on international duty have trained as normal during this fortnight, but the manager is keeping an eye on those away with their countries.

Aleksandar Mitrovic showed his goalscoring ability for Serbia on Sunday. Mitrovic, who missed the start of the season through suspension, has found it hard to force his way into the starting line-up for Newcastle.

But he was a nuisance and a threat in a 3-2 victory over Austria when he scored twice; following up a sixth minute header with a second after 23 minutes.