Newcastle United are absolutely flying in the Championship this season, and after all their expenditure this summer, it's little surprise to see them doing so well.

Rafa Benitez has definitely built a team capable of winning the division come the end of the season and some of their performances in recent weeks have been absolutely superb.

In particular, their 6-0 demolition of Preston North End in the EFL Cup.

It was a result that oozed class, quality and ruthlessness.

It was made all the more impressive because Newcastle played a largely second-string side that featured players that wouldn't look out of place in most Premier League teams.

But more than anything, it showed that Newcastle have an absolutely worrying amount of quality in their reserves. And on the back of the Preston game, we want to look at a couple of players that deserve a promotion.

So with that in mind, here's TWO players Rafa Benitez should promote to the first-team as soon as possible...

Achraf Lazaar

Achraf Lazaar was a summer signing from Serie A outfit Palermo but since his transfer, he's not featured as much as he might have liked.

But with Paul Dummett showing some serious signs of improvements, there's plenty of reasoning why its been a little tough for the Moroccan.

However, at times, you'd just like to see Lazaar thrown into the first-team.

He was a really important player in a Palermo team that did well for a couple of years and at times, he seems like a better attacking option than his English colleague.

Jesus Gamez

newcastleee

Similarly with the first option, we're sticking with defensive options for the second player in this list.

The next choice we've gone for is Spanish full-back Jesus Gamez, who came to the club this summer.

He's had a couple of niggling injuries since his arrival in England but at times, you feel that he might be a safer bet than DeAndre Yedlin.

The American is fantastic going forward but at times, has been exposed in defence.

The former Atlético Madrid has over 300 games under his belt at all levels and would be a fantastic player to have in this first-team.