SENGALESE midfielder Mo Diame thinks Newcastle manager Rafa Benitez is right to have taken his squad away to make the most of a free weekend.

The Magpies will play CSKA Moscow in a friendly in Spain on Saturday to keep them ticking over ahead of the crucial relegation battle with Huddersfield a week later.

That game has already shaped up to have a lot riding on it and midfielder Mo Diame, who made his return to action after injury at Wolves on Monday, thinks the trip will be perfect.

Diame said: "It's always positive to spend some time together, because of the (normal) routine of going to training and going home.

“Now we're going to spend time together, be together and have some dinner together. I think it's good for the team. Hopefully, we will come back with a lot of energy and be ready for this final against Huddersfield.

"It's important to have belief and we have that. Two weeks ago we showed we can beat any team by beating Manchester City. It's going to be the same that is needed. We have to fight together.

“We need this attitude and team spirit we had last season and this season also. It's there, we know, and I'm pretty sure we will do it."

Newcastle will be hoping that Wolves’ controversial leveller on Monday, when Willy Boly’s header was allowed to stand despite having his arms round goalkeeper Martin Dubravka, does not prove costly.

Diame said: "We are frustrated, and it's not the first time. The game we played at home against them, they scored in the last minute too. Of course, we are disappointed, but I think the team is doing well. We need to take the positives and keep working.

"I saw it again in the dressing room, and it was definitely a foul. I didn't see it directly, but I saw it afterwards. I think it's definitely a foul.

"But the team has been working well in the last three games. We need to keep going. The attitude was good. We try to not concede any more in the last minute."

Diame was on the pitch when that goal went in because he was introduced as a late substitute for goalscorer Issac Hayden in the 86th minute. It was his first minutes of football since facing Manchester United on January 2.

"It's difficult to be outside the pitch,” he said. “Watching the game from the stand is not easy. Now I'm back, and I hope I will help the team. I will give everything to help the team and make sure we get our target as soon as possible.

"I had a crack on my bone in my fifth metatarsal at first. The Man United game was just my groin, but I was fine after two or three days. At training during the week after that I received a kick on my foot and I had a crack on the bone. That's why I was away for so long.

"I've been watching them from the stand. I've been seeing them work hard. We got a great win against Manchester City. The team is still fighting, and we know that we will be fighting until the end. Now I'm here to help, and I will give everything to make sure we get our target.”