Newcastle United midfielder Isaac Hayden has talked up the impact of manager Rafael Benitez during their promotion-winning campaign.

The Magpies clinched an immediate return to the Premier League earlier this week and kept their hopes of winning the Championship title alive with a 2-0 triumph over Cardiff City in South Wales this evening.

Newcastle had to overcome a drab first-half performance before Christian Atsu opened the scoring and Hayden, who doubled the visitors' lead, is now looking forward to continuing their improvement next season.

"The first half wasn't the best, it was a bit flat. Second half we came out and played our best," he told Sky Sports News.

"The manager's been fantastic since he's come in, everyone's worked really hard, we're on the way up now and hopefully we can kick on in the Premier League."

Hayden has now enjoyed back-to-back promotions from the Championship having been part of the Hull City side that won the playoffs last season.