RAFAEL BENITEZ has warned Newcastle United’s Championship rivals that he will not allow the FA Cup to distract from the main promotion to the Premier League aim – after a third round tie which has robbed him of £14m striker Aleksandar Mitrovic.

Mitrovic left St Andrew’s on crutches on Saturday night after sustaining a severe cut to his leg after a collision with Birmingham goalkeeper Adam Legzdins as Daryl Murphy put the Magpies in front in the fifth minute.

While not a long term injury it should rule the Serbian out for the next few games at least, particularly the rescheduled trip to Brentford and the FA Cup third round replay with the Blues a week on Wednesday.

A failure to overcome Birmingham at the first attempt has added the extra fixture to an already hectic list and has seen the trip to Griffin Park, which had already been moved once to next Monday for television, revert back to the normal 3pm kick-off this Saturday.

Benitez, who made eight changes to his team at Birmingham, is keen to progress in the FA Cup but knows staying in the Championship’s top two is the club’s priority this season.

“We knew before the game that the worst thing could be to play another game,” said Benitez. “But, OK, it’s what we have and we have to try to manage properly. We must try to win, manage it properly but make sure we don’t lose focus on the league.

“It’s important for players without minutes to play another game. It can help some of them to be better, to be fit for the rest of the season and to use them. On the other hand it’s bad news because we have to play more games.”

Benitez hopes to have added to his squad before this weekend’s trip to Brentford and he insisted Mitrovic’s injury does not alter anything. The Serbian has attracted interest from home abroad, including from Swansea and Crystal Palace.

The Newcastle boss, however, claimed he was not looking to sell Mitrovic anyway and that incoming transfers are his main consideration at this stage. Everton midfielder Tom Cleverley, Chelsea’s Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Bournemouth striker Callum Wilson are three of his biggest targets. Cleverley’s team-mate James McCarthy is the latest to have been linked.

Benitez said: “We were just focusing on the next game. I will talk with Lee Charnley (managing director) and see if we can get movement or good news this week.”

Newcastle striker Murphy is hungry to prove he deserves to stay in contention for a starting spot after finally getting off the mark in a black and white shirt.

The Irishman has had to wait since September to make his second start for the club after leaving Ipswich and was relieved to find the net, even if it was not in the league. His chances of more outings could be boosted by Mitrovic’s injury.

Benitez said: “I have been really pleased with Daryl’s attitude. He has been a great professional, then he got injured and after that we couldn’t give him continuity. We are really pleased with him. He must keep working but he has a problem: that is Dwight Gayle because he is scoring so many goals.

“I am happy with Daryl and even Mitrovic. It was a pity to lose Mitrovic because the two of them, they could be a threat for defenders and we had to change everything. But Murphy, Mitro and Gayle are three good strikers, all working well.”

While Newcastle will monitor Mitrovic’s cut – which was severe enough for him to go to hospital while receiving oxygen – to determine the length of time he will be sidelined, Benitez’s focus will be on the league again this weekend.

Having made eight changes for the FA Cup tie at Birmingham it raised questions over how seriously he is treating the FA Cup.

Benitez, knowing more than 4,600 away fans made the trip to St Andrew’s, said: “It’s the FA Cup and so if you want to go through you have to win, so we’ll try to do it. It’s a massive competition. I won the FA Cup with Liverpool so I know what it means, but also with Newcastle if we can go through I will try to do it.

“But I do not want to lie to fans; we will try to do it with our squad, so if we have to use players that are not playing too much we will do it because it is good for them, the squad and for the team for the league.”

Using his squad did allow recalls to Massadio Haidara and Cheik Tiote; neither had started a game this season. In fact Haidara had not played since October 2015 because of injury.

Benitez said: “Good for Haidara and a lot of them. Tiote too was working hard and not playing but you cannot expect from them to play 90 minutes and do everything perfect. What you have to expect is for them to give everything. I am happy.”