Rafa Benitez reveals his preoccupation with '˜small things' ahead of a BIG January for Newcastle

Benitez’s side are 15th in the division ahead of Saturday’s home game against Leicester City.

It is followed by a December 13 game against Everton at St James’s Park.

Newcastle, beaten 3-1 by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, have taken just one point from their last six league games.

And Benitez’s side need to take points from the home games against Leicester and Everton ahead of next weekend’s game against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.

United’s manager has also been drawing up lists of potential January recruits.

However, Benitez – who doesn’t yet know how much money he will have to spent – is primarily focused on eradicating the costly mistakes that the team have made in recent weeks.

“We try to do our best now and see what happens in January,” said Benitez, who will today check on the fitness of Jamaal Lascelles, Christian Atsu and Paul Dummett ahead of the Leicester fixture.

“The main thing now is that we have so many games to play.

“We have to be sure that we improve the little things that can help the team win points.”

Benitez believes the team can find answers to their problems on the training field over the coming days, weeks and months.

Asked what the “problem” was with his team, Benitez said: “We’re in the Premier League. Simple.

“We can fix it by working harder and better.”