Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez has explained why Jack Colback was omitted from the team's official squad photo for 2017-18.

The Spaniard bluntly confirmed that the former Sunderland midfielder was left out of the picture because he plans on leaving him in the reserves indefinitely.

"It's simple. We had decided the squad before," The Mirror quotes the former Liverpool boss as saying.

"He is not training with the team and we didn't change our position on that.

"It made no sense to change things again just because we're taking a team picture. It has to be consistent.

"We have to be consistent in terms of our ideas as professionals and the way that we want to manage the squad."

Colback, who rejected moves to Hull City and Wolverhampton Wanderers over the summer, has been confined to the Newcastle reserves all season.