AT A time when Martin Dubravka’s performances are under more scrutiny than at any other spell during his Newcastle United career, Rafa Benitez has expressed confidence that his goalkeeper will have no problem dealing with the extra pressure on his shoulders.

Even though Dubravka has had plenty of sympathy for the way he conceded the 95th minute equaliser against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Magpies’ last Premier League outing, there is also a belief that he should have done better to prevent Willy Boly from heading in.

Regardless of that incident, Dubravka has also been questioned when Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham have scored against Newcastle since the turn of the year – even if that has been harsh on a couple of occasions.

But the incidents have not altered Dubravka’s exterior on the training ground and among his team-mates, so Benitez is a firm believer that his £4.5m buy from Sparta Prague has the mental strength to bounce back.

“I’ve not said that he’s bullet proof! But it’s the way that you see him training, see him when he’s talking to team-mates. You talk to him personally and you see that he’s very, very mature and professional. And he’s very focused,” said Benitez.

“That is why I’m quite calm and happy because you know that he can do well. He can make mistakes like everyone but you can see the way that he behaves, the way that he carries himself, that he talks.

“After (Wolves) I was talking with him, I was supporting him, so he was OK, I think. He was OK. It was just one decision, one situation. Hopefully he will not need to do anything on Saturday because the defenders will do their job, hopefully he’ll just be watching the game.”

There is absolutely no way Benitez has considered replacing Dubravka between the posts for this afternoon’s visit of bottom club Huddersfield to St James’ Park. Before conceding to Boly in the last game he made a number of top saves and performed well.

Benitez said: “If you have to pick one player who can live with the pressure and be professional, it would be Martin Dubravka.

“But he is a keeper so he can be fine for 94 minutes and ten seconds and then everything’s changed. I told him he could have punched the ball but we could also have protected him a little bit better. And it was a foul.”

Newcastle are only a point clear of the relegation zone so the visit of Huddersfield, sitting 14 points shy of safety, represents the ideal opportunity to increase the gap to the bottom three.

Both clubs went up the same year, with the Terriers via the play-offs, and they impressed everyone under David Wagner, who lost his job earlier this season.

Benitez felt that decision was harsh as he prepares to face Jan Siewart’s team.

“In the first year after promotion, you have a lot of emotions and all the people supporting and you do not feel the pressures,” said Benitez. “Everyone is expecting you to finish in the bottom three so when you pass this line, you are then expected to do well and when you start feeling the pressure, it is more difficult.

“If you analyse the teams that were promoted with us, Brighton and Huddersfield, they spent some money but the teams that were promoted this year, Fulham and Wolves, they spent even more money.

“It was a surprise Dave Wagner went because he was doing a good job. We cannot forget, this is Huddersfield. For them to be in the Premier League is a massive, massive achievement.”

Defeat for Huddersfield will put a further nail in their top-flight coffin.

Benitez accepts how crucial today’s game could be in the way the run-in shapes up, particularly when Newcastle also face Burnley on Tuesday at St James’.

He said: “I’ve said before, every game for us is like a final. Huddersfield is the first one, people are expecting ‘oh we have to win but it’s the Premier League’.

“But we have confidence and obviously we know that, if we win these two games we will be closer (to staying up).

“My estimation is still the same, carry on what you have been doing, approach this game with confidence, believing that we can get the three points and see what happens. “

Newcastle are only without Ciaran Clark and Rob Elliot because of injury, so there are plenty of options available to the manager. Miguel Almiron is also pressing to start after impressing during his training in Spain and since returning to Tyneside.

Midfielder Jonjo Shelvey is also available after a lengthy lay-off but it does not seem like Benitez is in a rush to get him back in the team, particularly given the performances of Sean Longstaff and Isaac Hayden in the middle.

Benitez said: “Longstaff is doing well, Hayden has come back.

“They are two different kind of midfielders. We have Ki Sung-yeung who can give you some good possession, good decisions.

“We have Mo Diame who is a really good worker and we have Jonjo Shelvey who can give you these really good long passes.

“The difficult thing for me now is to pick the right ones for the right games. It is better to have this problem than to have just two (midfielders).

“It will give us something different.

“Jonjo being fit is very good and he will increase the competition in the middle of the pitch. It’s very good.”