IT has often been said this season that Newcastle United are effectively ‘a Championship team playing in the Premier League’. On Saturday, the statement was actually true.

All 11 members of the Newcastle side that lined up against Swansea made at least 25 league appearances as the Magpies won the Championship title last season. On the same weekend 12 months earlier, Newcastle had been securing a 2-1 win at Brentford to move back to the top of the table. Eight players who started at Griffin Park also kicked off against the Swans.

It can be argued that a degree of continuity is desirable in the immediate aftermath of promotion, and Saturday’s bench did feature four players who were signed in the summer. Two – Joselu, who scored Newcastle’s equaliser, and Mikel Merino, whose loan move from Borussia Dortmund was quickly turned into a permanent transfer – came onto the field.

Nevertheless, the fact that Rafael Benitez is having to rely on a group of players that was assembled with the sole purpose of winning promotion is surely the most damning indictment of the paralysing stasis that is strangling Newcastle United at the moment. Last summer’s investment was inadequate; this month’s spending could well prove non-existent. Little wonder that former Newcastle midfielder-turned-pundit Jermaine Jenas claims Benitez will have achieved “a miracle” if he keeps the Magpies in the Premier League.

“That (the starting line-up) tells everybody where we are,” said the Newcastle manager, after Joselu’s second-half strike cancelled out Jordan Ayew’s opener for a Swansea side that remain rooted to the foot of the table. “I have been saying it all season.

“Some people say, ‘Ah, but you have to do this, you have to do that’, but that is the reality. We are in the Premier League, and we have a lot of players giving everything, but sometimes it is not enough. The amazing thing and the positive thing is that they are working so hard.”

For reference, Brighton, who accompanied Newcastle in the automatic promotion places last season, featured three summer signings in the side that lost to West Brom at the weekend, one of which - Jose Izquierdo – is their club-record signing. Huddersfield, who were promoted via the play-offs, boasted six summer signings in the team that lost to West Ham.

It is possible to quibble over the quality of some of Benitez’s summer additions – most notably Jacob Murphy, who has struggled to establish himself since making a £12m move from Norwich – but the reality is that the Spaniard was working within parameters that were constantly shifting.

He was also having to adhere to a budget that was tiny in comparison to the sums that were being splurged by other teams who have found themselves in the bottom half of the table this season. Everton, for example, spent more on Gylfi Sigurdsson than Benitez had for the whole of his summer expenditure.

Last summer was frustrating, the last few weeks have been even worse. Unless something changes dramatically in the next fortnight, Benitez will have to rely on his Championship squad right through to the end of the season.

“No,” said Benitez, pointedly, when he was asked whether he thought he would find himself standing at St James’ Park in January with the same group of players that secured promotion. “It’s not easy.

“The good thing and the bad thing is that you have a lot of teams very close, separated only by a few points. It’s good because everybody is there, and so you can still fight. But it’s bad because if you make a couple of mistakes, a lot of teams will go ahead of you. The reality is that we have to do a lot of things right if we want to win games.”

In that context, Saturday was a frustration. Newcastle did a lot of things right for the majority of the game, but were unable to secure what would have been a first home league win since the middle of October.

On a positive note, they have taken eight points from their last five matches and find themselves three points clear of the relegation zone, although that would change if Stoke City were to spring a surprise and take something from Old Trafford tonight.

On a more negative slant, however, Newcastle have now failed to beat both Brighton and Swansea in their last two home games and remain embroiled in the thick of the relegation fight ahead of Saturday’s trip to runaway league leaders Manchester City. With Swansea, Stoke, Brighton and Bournemouth all playing at home next weekend, the table could look very different by the time the Magpies return to Gallowgate to host Burnley on deadline day.

They could have put Saturday’s game to bed in the opening half-hour, but a succession of chances were spurned, with Dwight Gayle especially culpable. Last season’s leading scorer failed to threaten with two excellent headed opportunities in the first 12 minutes, directing the first straight at Lukasz Fabianski and nodding the second well wide of the target. He found himself in another great position at the start of the second half, but dragged a weak shot wide.

Ayoze Perez was also profligate, firing a poor effort straight at Fabianski after breaking into the box in the first half, and there was a growing sense that Newcastle would eventually be punished for their wastefulness.

They received a huge let-off shortly before half-time, with referee Graham Scott failing to spot a clear handball that should have resulted in a Swansea penalty and a red card for Magpies midfielder Mo Diame. Mike van der Hoorn prodded Kyle Bartley’s headed knock-down goalwards, and Diame nudged out his left arm to prevent the ball from finding the net. Had the VAR system been in operation, Diame would almost certainly have been sent off.

As it was, he continued, but Newcastle eventually fell behind on the hour mark. Jordan Ayew lost Ciaran Clark to meet van der Hoorn’s right-wing cross, and while his first attempt was saved by Karl Darlow, he reacted quickest to head home the rebound.

Benitez brought on Joselu four minutes later, and within another four minutes, the Spaniard was firing Newcastle level with his fourth goal of the season. Receiving Perez’s deflected cross, Joselu turned adeptly before firing a low shot into the far bottom corner.

Joselu has his faults, but his whole-hearted approach has endeared him to his boss, and his performances represent a decent return on Newcastle’s £5m summer investment. It is worth remembering that Championship full-backs are currently going for that price.

“In this new world that football is in now, where everything is so expensive, we knew he could score goals and make a contribution,” said Benitez. “He is doing that.

“Can he score more goals? Yes. But maybe we would have to pay £25m or something like that. He is doing a great job for the team, and is working really hard. He is scoring goals and I am quite happy with him.

“His attitude has been really good.  It is not just if you score goals – everybody is expecting that a striker has to score goals – but in a team like us that might not create as many chances as you want, they also have to work hard.”