Newcastle vs Swansea: Rafa Benitez to check on Jonjo Shelvey's state of mind before Liberty Stadium return

Midfielder to face his old club after acrimonious departure

Jonjo Shelvey has not impressed since his move to Newcastle (2016 Getty Images)

It is Newcastle's most pivotal game in years and as such Rafa Benitez will spell out to Jonjo Shelvey the importance of maintaining his discipline as the stand-in captain prepares to face Swansea City for the first time since his acrimonious departure from the Liberty Stadium.

Shelvey leads his club against his former employers at St James' Park in a game where anything other than victory will leave relegation a probability rather than a possibility, the first time Newcastle will have gone down in seven years.

Second-bottom Newcastle could be nine points adrift of safety by the time they play on Saturday if Norwich City beat Sunderland in the early kick-off. Shelvey has added incentive to impress, after criticising the way he was treated by the Welsh club and sections of its support during his two-and-a-half years in South Wales when he sealed a £12m move to the North-East in January.

The 24-year-old had his attitude openly questioned by former Swansea manager Garry Monk, while Swansea's Dutch director John van Zweden recently underlined the mutual antipathy of club and player by posting on his Twitter feed that he hoped the former Liverpool midfielder would "enjoy the Championship".

It makes for a potentially fiesty duel with his former team-mates, and Benitez will speak to the player - who in 11 starts has largely failed to justify his hefty price-tag - to ensure he remains focused and doesn't rise to the inevitable efforts to wind him up.

“I think he's fine,” Benitez said. “He's a player who wants to give everything in every game and we will make sure we talk with him and make sure he's focused. He's training well so I don't see any problems at the moment but I will talk to him to be sure he's fully concentrated.”

Shelvey, who does not have a pay reduction clause in his £80,000-a-week wages in the case of relegation, again will captain the side in the absence of Fabrio Coloccini. The 34-year-old defender is out with a recurring calf problem that has kept the Argentinian out since mid-February, with Benitez conceding a potential return date is difficult pin down.

Daryl Janmaat is out with a short-term groin strain, but when that clears the Dutch defender is ready to play wearing a hand cast to protect two fingers he broke in punching a dressing room wall during last week's 3-1 defeat at Southampton, a result which left Newcastle with just one point from their last seven games.

Benitez, who is yet to win four matches into his tenure after succeeding Steve McClaren last month, added: “They are a good group of players, I see that all the time in training, but they are not performing at the level everyone expects. I've told them to come off the pitch at the end of the game with no regrets, because we know that one win can provide us with a big spark in the remaining matches.”