RAFAEL BENITEZ said what every Newcastle United fan was thinking as he wondered out loud just how his side had left Ewood Park empty-handed.

Newcastle surrendered top spot in the Championship to Brighton as Blackburn’s Charlie Mulgrew again sunk Benitez’s side for the second time this season.

It was an unlikely double for Owen Coyle’s men and although Mulgrew’s finish was a fine effort, it came as a surprise in a contest Newcastle had dominated.

A Mo Diame 30-yarder thrashed against the crossbar in the first half, while Dwight Gayle and Ciaran Clark both had second-half finishes ruled out for offside and handball respectively.

With 67 per cent possession and 25 shots, Newcastle should have won this match at a canter and Benitez himself struggled to work out how his men had come off second best.

He said: “I didn’t know the stats in the first half, the chances the possession, corners and everything was all in our favour so it’s difficult to explain.

“Then what we had to do was keep doing the same things in the second half and we started the second half with two goals disallowed and the same idea and same control.

“We lost control of the game for maybe five or ten minutes, and we concede the goal.

“In the end you have more problems with them putting a lot of bodies in the box, it was not easy to find the space and it’s difficult to explain. How can you not even draw but lose this game? It’s incredible.”

Benitez, quite rightly, took some comfort in the fact that his men had totally outclassed the lowly home side and if he judged the performance alone then life did not seem quite so bad.

He added: “The only thing for me is to see the team playing so well and not winning the game is difficult to understand, but we have to accept that it has been like this and try to play in the same way, try to create as many chances as today and try to take our chances.”

Diame, Chancel Mbemba and Christian Atsu are expected to join up with their countries in the next few days ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon, an event that Newcastle could sorely do without.

However, Benitez has not yet identified the players he wants to bring into St. James’ Park in this month’s transfer window, although he is out there searching for the correct fits.

He said: “We are trying to find the right players. January as you know is not an easy transfer window so hopefully we can do something.

“It has to be players who can give us better balance than the players we have at the moment, but still if we continue playing like this I think we’ll win games without these players.”

Although kind words from Blackburn boss Owen Coyle may sound like faint praise, especially as Brighton have overtaken the Magpies courtesy of a win at Fulham, Coyle still believes that Benitez’s men will be top of the Championship come the end of the season.

He said: “We knew coming into the game that we were going to have to do a lot of things very well and we would have to defend for our lives at times because, for me, they are a quality side and a side that I certainly believe will go on to be champions.”