RAFAEL BENITEZ hailed his Newcastle United super-subs after Ayoze Perez’s second-half header secured a first Premier League win of the season.

Perez came off the bench in the final minute of the first half to see off Watford, with his header converting a free-kick delivered by his fellow substitute, Ki Sung-yueng.

Fabian Schar also left the bench to produce an excellent display in the second half, replacing injured skipper Jamaal Lascelles, and Benitez was delighted to see his replacements having such a positive impact.

The Newcastle boss said: “It is not easy when you put a player on the pitch in a difficult game. Ayoze came on in the last minute of the first half, but he knows what he has to do and he was good.

“Ki and Schar both gave the team some composure on the ball. They were competing, and doing everything we were expecting from them.

“They did really well, so credit to the three of them. They helped the team to keep the intensity, and maybe with Perez with the goal and Ki with the free-kick, to make the difference.”

The win came at the end of a difficult week that saw Lascelles criticised in some quarters for urging the fans to call off their protests against Mike Ashley.

There were sporadic anti-Ashley chants this afternoon, and there was a brief post-match demonstration in front of the Milburn Stand, but the general atmosphere was much more positive and raucous than has been the case on a number of occasions this season.

The crowd support certainly appeared to be a factor in the second half, with Newcastle turning the momentum of the game in their favour after Watford had spurned a succession of opportunities before the break.

Benitez said: “The fans have been fantastic during the whole season, and today was another example. The players are giving everything. We are making mistakes, starting from me, but still we are trying our best. The fans appreciate that.

“You could see that even in the worst situations, they were still behind the team. Now, we have to enjoy it and relax a little bit. We will train tomorrow, so we carry on. Hopefully, we can win more games like today because everybody was happy and that is the way for us.”

Benitez will spend the next few days checking on the state of Newcastle’s injury victims, with Yoshiniro Muto and Jonjo Shelvey having suffered muscular problems and Jamaal Lascelles struggling with a shoulder problem that was sustained in the week.

Benitez said: “There are a couple of problems. Shelvey and Muto have muscular problems, so we will have to see what is going on. Muto was his calf. But it’s still too early to know what he has.

“Jamaal had a little problem with his shoulder in training a couple of days ago, but we will have to wait a little bit to see how he is.”