Rafa Benitez reveals the one thing he has told Newcastle's players NOT to do

Benitez’s side are 19th in the division, and six points adrift of safety, after the weekend’s 3-2 defeat to relegation rivals Norwich City.

The club has a game in hand over Alex Neil’s 17th-placed side, who claimed all three points at Carrow Road thanks to an injury-time goal from Martin Olsson.

Newcastle, having won just six games all season, look destined for the Championship.

But Benitez is refusing to look beyond Saturday’s match against Southampton at the St Mary’s Stadium.

And United’s manager has told his players not to dwell on the club’s league position and focus on claiming a first win since early February.

“It’s one game at a time,” said Benitez. “We cannot see the table.

“We have to think about Southampton, and try to improve our team and be ready for the next one.

“We will try to get three points in the next one.”

Benitez, while frustrated at the mistakes made against Norwich, feels the team is improving week by week.

However, with just seven games left to play, Newcastle are quickly running out of time.

“Obviously, every week you will see something a little bit better, but we don’t have too much time,” he said.

“That is why we have to start winning in the next game if possible.”

On handling the pressure, Benitez added: “If you’re making mistakes, then the pressure is bigger. That is the difficult thing to manage.”