Newcastle fans protest as Mike Ashley and Rafael Benitez meet in restaurant

Newcastle fans protested outside a restaurant where owner Mike Ashley and manager Rafael Benitez met for talks.

They met four days after Ashley went to his first home match since May 2017 - Saturday's 2-0 defeat by Leicester.

Winless Newcastle are third from bottom in the Premier League and fans regularly protest against Ashley, who has been in charge since 2007.

In pre-season Benitez said the fans "need to be concerned" by the club's limited transfer business.

Earlier this week former Newcastle manager and player Kevin Keegan told BBC Radio 5 live the club had been a "nightmare for 10 years".

Members of supporters' club The Magpie Group and fans held a peaceful protest outside the Italian restaurant in Northumberland where Benitez, Sports Direct owner Ashley and Newcastle players had a meal.

The fan group confirmed Sports Direct boss Ashley was greeted with jeers and chants of 'where's the money gone?', while there were also banners declaring 'Ashley Out' and 'Sports Redirect'.

Ashley strongly denied any suggestion he swore at fans.

In a statement on Thursday, he said: "I did not make a 'V-sign' to anyone. To suggest otherwise is both inaccurate and irresponsible.

"The matter is in the hands of our legal team and they will be contacting relevant newspaper editors in due course."