Rafael Benitez wants Newcastle United to "finish our job" and win promotion

Rafael Benitez has urged Newcastle United to "finish our job" and seal a top-two place in the Championship as soon as they can.

The Magpies, second in the table, will be promoted at the first time of asking if they beat Preston North End at St James' Park on Monday night.

Brighton & Hove Albion's surprise defeat to Norwich City on Friday means that Newcastle still have an outside chance of snatching the Championship title.

However, Benitez insists that securing Premier League football is the only thing that truly matters, without much care for the position in the table.

The Spaniard told Sky Sports News: "My target was always to try to go up. It doesn't matter to me the position, so the main thing is just to make sure we finish our job.

"I am sure that everything is fine if we go up. In six months' time, nobody will remember if we won or lost any games, just that we were promoted - that was the target.

"I always talk about experience and in this case, stats and history if you want. In the last five years, you haven't had too many teams going straight up - just one, so that shows how difficult it is for the teams who were relegated."

Monday's encounter will be the third meeting between the sides this season, with the Magpies having beaten Preston 6-0 in the League Cup at St James' Park and won 2-1 in the league at Deepdale.