Rafa Benitez Confirms Florian Lejeune Ruled Out of Brighton Trip for Newcastle United

Rafa Benitez has confirmed that French defender Florian Lejeune, signed from SD Eibar in a €10m deal over the summer, will miss Newcastle's trip to Brighton on Sunday.

The defender has completed just 34 minutes of football this season for the Magpies, suffering an opening day injury against Tottenham that has kept him out of action since. 

Having won their last three Premier League matches, Benitez is confident that his injury-free defenders can continue their good form, according to the Shields Gazette.

"More or less the same situation, everybody's fine," Benitez said. "Lejeune's having treatment.

"We're really pleased signing him," he added. "He was unlucky with the injury, but (Ciaran) Clark and (Jamaal) Lascelles are doing well, so he has to wait, but he's pushing and creating problems for my decisions every week."

Aleksandar Mitrović will also be missing from Newcastle's trip to the Falmer Stadium, the Serbian striker serving the last of his three-match ban for violent conduct.

The Magpies will be desperate to claim all three points on the south coast. With Liverpool coming to St. James' Park next week, and then a trip back to the south coast to face Southampton the week after, Newcastle may struggle for points at the start of October.