RAFA BENITEZ wants to stay focused on keeping Newcastle United in the Premier League and hopes for a positive transfer breakthrough ahead of a meeting with Mike Ashley at the club’s training ground.

Ashley was back at St James’ Park for the first time since November 10 to witness the Magpies’ 3-0 win over Cardiff City on Saturday, a victory which has lifted them out of the relegation zone again.

Ashley’s move coincided with the development that he has all but conceded defeat in his attempts to sell before the end of this month, so he is having to consider what money to make available for Benitez to spend before the window closes.

The sportswear tycoon was given a barrage of abuse as he sat in the directors’ box, with regular chants of “we want Ashley out” and “stand up if you hate Ashley” being bellowed around St James’.

Ashley then went down to see Benitez in his office after the game to congratulate him on the performance and result and there are now plans for the pair to have a longer meeting at the training ground.

Benitez is yet to enter contract talks after entering the final six months of his deal because he wants to see that the club matches his ambitions before he commits to fresh terms.

Newcastle – where claims have been denied that the club’s former executive director (football) Dennis Wise is set for a return - have not had made a signing so far in January.

“It’s fine (that Ashley was back), it will not change my game plan, it will not change my substitutions, but it could be good if he comes. I certainly don’t think it is a bad thing,” said Benitez.

“The players are quite focused, against Cardiff they were really, really focused. The players, especially the foreign players, they are not bothered about what people are saying. They are just worrying about what happens on the pitch.”

Asked about suggestions that a takeover is unlikely to happen following claims Peter Kenyon has been unable to come up with the funds to get a deal over the line, Benitez said: “Again, we try to keep these things outside of the pitch, they are not of importance.  “If you play against a team and you lose, people say ‘oh it is because of that’ but the players they do not worry about what is going on in terms of takeovers.  “Maybe the English players worry a bit more because they hear everything, but the foreign players they do not have a clue. The players might watch the telly and see what people are saying, but they were focused on beating Cardiff.”

Benitez suggested that he was “open to any good ideas” after being told Ashley wants to re-engage with him for the first time since a period when the owner took the manager and staff out for food in Ponteland last year.

He will be keen to get from him sooner rather than later is new players, with time running out for new arrivals to be secured before the window closes.

Atlanta’s Miguel Almiron was the main target this month but Newcastle have not been prepared to meet the demands of the player’s advisors, while a transfer fee of £25m has also been balked at so far.

“I will not talk (about transfers), I will just keep working and get the best from these players,” he said. “My idea, is, you know what my ideas are, but we have to concentrate on what we have.”

In beating Cardiff, Newcastle managed to win for only the third time in 12 matches in the Premier League at home this season. It also brought an end to a five match winless run that had seen them fall back into the relegation zone.

It was a crucial victory at this stage of the campaign given Newcastle face title contenders Manchester City and Tottenham after this weekend’s FA Cup fourth round tie against Watford on Tyneside.

Benitez said: “We can still have a successful season. I have belief that this team will stay up, but we have to do the things we did against Cardiff and we do things right. We have to keep winning games, it will not be easy, but we can still achieve what we want to achieve.

“If I seem happier and more positive, it is because we have won and we have taken three points. We have scored three goals and kept a clean sheet, I have to be positive.

“The other teams around us, they will also try to strengthen this month, but if we do what we did here, if we play like that against them, we will be OK. We will get the points we need.”

While the clamour at Newcastle is for Ashley to open his cheque book to match Benitez’s ambitions of taking the team forward, there is proof within that squad that there are players out there available at cheaper prices who still possess quality.

Saturday’s match-winner Fabian Schar is proof of that. He was a £3m buy from Deportivo la Coruna in the summer and, after a shaky start to life in the North-East, he has started to come into his own.

After impressing at Blackburn as a defensive midfielder last Tuesday, Schar was back in his preferred centre-back role against Cardiff and played on the right of Jamaal Lascelles and Florian Lejeune.

The 27-year-old, a Switzerland international, showed how comfortable he is on the ball by scoring a fine solo goal in the first half to put Newcastle on course for victory.  He added a second after the break when he turned in Lascelles’ flick on to effectively seal the points before Ayoze Perez added the stoppage-time third.

Bennitez said: “He cost 3.5m euros. I knew him when he was at Basle but also when he was at Deportivo, I have some friends there and they told me about the (relegation) release clause and we started analysing things.  “I would be lying if I said he was always the first target, but we knew he could come in and help. We knew he had experience and had some quality on the ball, especially with his right foot. He has done well. We have some good centre-backs.”