Newcastle: Mo Diame reveals what will be key to Magpies' chances against Bristol City

Bristol City travel to Tyneside on the back of a dreadful run that has seen them win just one of their last 12 league games, and their prospects were dented further earlier this week when leading scorer Tammy Abraham was forced to return to his parent club, Chelsea, after picking up a thigh injury.

On paper, Saturday’s game looks like a gentle loosener before Newcastle head into a potentially-decisive period that will see them travel to Brighton, Huddersfield and Reading in the space of seven days.

However, having been part of the Magpies side that had to dig deep to grind out a win over Aston Villa on Monday, Diame is only too aware that things are rarely that simple in the Championship.

Newcastle have suffered home defeats to Wolves and Blackburn this season, so while Bristol City’s recent form might suggest they will struggle to contain their weekend opposition, Diame will not be taking anything for granted.

“You have to be prepared to fight,” said the midfielder, who has slotted straight back into the side since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations. “That is what the league asks of you.

“When we started the season, the manager had a meeting with us and told us all that we would not be able to play football every week and win easy. He said this would be hard, so we knew it would be a battle.

“It is difficult every single game. You need to be ready to receive tackles, and pick yourself off the ground to go again. We have to do that to the very end.”

Diame is not one to shirk the physical side of the game, and Rafael Benitez’s tendency to name him ahead of Ayoze Perez is heavily influenced by his ability to outmuscle defenders in a way that is alien to his Spanish team-mate.

While Perez can sometimes look ill-suited to the rough and tumble of life in the Championship, Diame is ideally suited to the physical demands of the second tier and is likely to be a key figure in the final two-and-a-half months of the season.

He will find himself playing behind Aleksandar Mitrovic at the weekend, with Dwight Gayle facing up to a month on the sidelines after suffering a recurrence of a hamstring injury against Villa.

Gayle scored the only goal of the game when Newcastle beat Bristol City at Ashton Gate in August, and that remains one of the Magpies’ toughest away encounters of the campaign.

Bristol City’s players carried the fight to their opponents on that occasion, and Diame anticipates a similarly spirited reaction when they arrive on Tyneside in two days’ time.

“Everyone wants to play well when they play against Newcastle,” he said. “They always want to show their best football.

“We need to work harder to make sure we win. The team is still focused, and we know what we have to do to win matches. We must fight together, be compact and everything will work.”

Newcastle host Bristol City at 3pm on Saturday, with promotion rivals Brighton entertaining Reading two-and-a-half hours later in the evening game.

The two sides meet at the Amex Stadium next Tuesday, and it has been revealed that one of the key players in the Brighton team could have been playing in Newcastle colours had things turned out differently in 2011.

Seagulls winger Solly March had a trial at Newcastle’s training ground, and was poised to sign youth terms with the Magpies from non-league Lewes before the loss of a close friend resulted in him returning to the south coast.

He signed for Brighton a few months later, and has established himself as a key member of Chris Hughton’s first team since breaking into the senior ranks at the end of last year.

“Solly was going to sign for Newcastle,” said March’s representative, Robert Codner. “He went up there, but he had a tragedy, something happened to his best friend.

“He took it quite badly, so Newcastle sent him back. That was the window for Brighton to become involved. Millwall were involved as well, but Brighton jumped in and got the deal done.”