Rafael Benitez has hailed the "very good reaction" shown by his Newcastle United players to salvage a point away at West Bromwich Albion on Tuesday night.

The out-of-form Magpies trailed by two goals at The Hawthorns before battling back to earn a 2-2 draw, ending their four-match losing run in the process.

Toon boss Benitez believes that the spirit shown by his players in the Midlands offers enough proof that they "care" about the shirt, having come under fire on the back of last weekend's 3-0 home loss to Watford.

"It was a very good reaction by the team and, as I said before, these players care," Sky Sports News quotes him as saying. "They were giving everything and trying to get back in the game. We conceded a goal late in the first half that was avoidable, but the reaction of the team was very good.

"We were in control for a while, they had a couple of crosses and we conceded the first goal which was disappointing. You have to make sure you are more focused in the last minute of the half. The reaction of the team was good, but then another cross and we had another lack of concentration, but still I could see the team fighting.

"After we scored the first goal, you could see they were a little bit under pressure and we were getting better. The second goal gave us belief and you could see they were a little bit scared this time. There was a little bit of a lack of luck in our finishing and we had two or three situations that could have gone a bit better for us.

"This group of players work really hard. OK they can make mistakes, starting with me, but we try our best and they did really well. Everybody was talking too much, but we did not deserve to lose the four games we lost and today could be the same. But we did well, the reaction was so good and they deserved a draw, if not more."

Newcastle find themselves 12th in the Premier League table ahead of Saturday's trip to champions Chelsea.