RAFAEL BENITEZ insists there has been no approach from Heart of Midlothian for Newcastle United’s assistant coach Ian Cathro – yet.

It is expected to be confirmed at some stage today that Hearts boss Robbie Neilson is leaving to take over at MK Dons.

And the Scottish Premier League club have identified Cathro as the leading contender to replace Neilson.

But Benitez, who is aware of interest in the 30-year-old, claims Hearts have not been in touch with St James’ Park.

He said: “Ian is a great coach. We don’t have any official approach. We are happy with him and we will continue with that. At the moment we don’t have any approach. He is a young coach, he has some experience and has a great future.

“The media is telling me Hearts will come, but it depends on the head coach they have at the moment if he goes or not. That is football. It is just speculation.”

As things stand Cathro will be part of the Newcastle coaching team that leads them at Nottingham Forest on Friday night.

Benitez is keen for his players to bounce back from the disappointment of losing an EFL Cup quarter-final on penalties to Hull on Tuesday, just days after losing in the Championship to Blackburn.

Benitez said: “We have no further problems, apart from the penalties we didn’t take properly, maybe a couple are a little tired, but they are fine.

“We played against a Premier League team and for a long time we were the better team, we had a lot of chances, and then when we scored we needed to manage the situation better.

“We should have defended better because we needed to control the game at that point, we had nearly won.

“We have to change players at Forest. How many? We have to decide. There will be some tired legs but it can depend on the position. Some can manage easier another game.”

Benitez revealed midfielder Jack Colback and defender Grant Hanley are still ruled out with an eye and shin problem respectively. He also confirmed that full-back Jesus Gamez has had surgery on a fractured collar bone and will not play again this year.