FEDERICO Fernandez and Jonjo Shelvey have been ruled out of Newcastle United’s battle with relegation rivals Huddersfield Town on Saturday.

Fernandez took a knock to his calf in the defeat to Wolves and has received treatment this week, while Shelvey has been to Barcelona to have his thigh injury checked out by a specialist.

It means neither will figure against the Terriers, who are three points ahead of the Magpies ahead of the meeting at the John Smith’s Stadium, and Rafa Benitez has reported other injury news too.

Benitez, speaking at his pre-match press conference, said: “DeAndre Yedlin is suspended, Fernandez has a knock and is progressing well but is not available.

“Karl Darlow has a problem hopefully he will be fully fit next week. Shelvey is the other one, we will see how he does in the next ten days.

“Florian Lejeune is getting closer, but not this game. We have Fed, Jonjo, Darlow out and we have to decide the squad.

“Lejeune is good news, if you think about crucial ligament injuries, normally they take nine months but within four months he was playing and that’s good news for us.”

Newcastle decided against appealing against Yedlin’s red card picked up against Wolves, so Javier Manquillo is on stand by to slot in.

Benitez was named the Premier League manager of the month for November after leading his side to three wins during that period.

He said: “Everybody here is working so hard, sometimes you are lucky enough to win games in a row and that is for all the hard work put in behind the scenes.

“For sure every game is like a final for us and we have to approach every game thinking one point can make a difference at the end of the season, that's why we were so upset the other day against Wolves.

“When you are in control and you can win then it is disappointing. Against Liverpool and Man United you know it is going to very difficult, but when you face teams that are close to you it is tough when you lose that way.

“The next two games will be massive against teams very close to you. It’s like a final every single game. We have to concentrate, we are playing well and hopefully there will be no strange things around.”