RAFAEL BENITEZ insists Newcastle United can still retain their Premier League status despite this afternoon’s 3-2 defeat at Norwich City plunging them deeper into the relegation mire.

The Magpies are now six points adrift of safety with seven games remaining after Martin Olsson’s stoppage-time strike condemned them to yet another away defeat at Carrow Road.

Newcastle have a game in hand on the Canaries, but their position has become even more precarious ahead of next weekend’s trip to Southampton.

They showed a semblance of spirit in today’s game though, twice coming from a goal behind thanks to strikes from Aleksandar Mitrovic, and Benitez is refusing to throw in the towel provided his players replicate their second-half performance in the games that remain.

When asked whether Newcastle could survive, Benitez said: “If we can fight and play like we did in the second half – yes.

“It’s not easy when you have been in this position for the whole season. You have to understand that this can happen.

“The only thing we can do is give them confidence and training. We can give them instructions and get them to work hard.

“We have to be ready for the last seven games. There’s seven games to play and we have to start winning as soon as possible.”

Having failed to muster a single effort on goal in the first half, Newcastle’s performance improved when Mitrovic came off the bench after the break.

The striker, who scored with a header and a penalty, was dropped to the substitutes’ bench, with Papiss Cisse taking his place in the starting line-up, and Benitez claims his heavy international workload was the major factor in his demotion.

Mitrovic started Serbia’s 1-0 win in Estonia on Tuesday, while Cisse wasn’t on international with Senegal.

“He (Mitrovic) came late after the international break,” said Benitez. “We have players flying around the world, and players training with you.

“When we were 1-0 down, we had to play everyone. The substitutions worked well, but you have to decide before the game who is in form or who has done well in training during the whole week.

“You need to see who can help. It happened like this, but it was good for Mitrovic because he scored two and it can be good for his confidence and the rest of the season if he keeps scoring goals.”