MIKEL MERINO claims Newcastle United’s tightly-knit nature could work in the club’s favour as they look to build on last month’s win over West Ham and continue climbing the table.

The Magpies failed to sign a single player on transfer-deadline day, despite Rafael Benitez’s regular public admissions that he was short of options at left-back and centre-forward in particular.

The Newcastle boss will have to make do with what he has until January at the earliest, but Merino feels having a tight first-team group could be a good thing if it leads to a strong team spirit.

The Spaniard made his first Magpies start in the win over the Hammers, and claims the effort, determination and togetherness on display that day has to act as a template for the rest of the season.

“Newcastle needs to be a compact team,” said Merino, who provided a goal and an assist as Spain Under-21s claimed a 3-0 win over Italy last weekend. “We are like a family and we have to keep this mentality because we don’t have the potential that Manchester City, Manchester United or the other big teams have.

“So we have to keep playing, keep running a lot with all the effort, this is not negotiable - and we have to each give 100 per cent out on the pitch. Only like this can we have a successful season.”

Having been understandably exasperated by Thursday’s lack of activity, Benitez has spent the weekend refocusing on the job in hand.

His man-management skills are likely to be crucial in the next few weeks, with Newcastle’s players having been well aware of his desire to secure reinforcements before the transfer window closed.

His relationship with Dwight Gayle in particular needs some careful rebuilding – the striker would have left on deadline day had Newcastle’s recruitment team been able to sign either Divock Origi or Lucas Perez – and it will be interesting to see if there is an olive branch for Jack Colback, who has spent the last few weeks training with the academy squad.

Benitez will have to persuade his players they are capable of surviving in the top-flight despite the lack of deadline-day signings, with their first assignment after the international break taking them to Swansea City, a club that was bolstered by the arrival of Renato Sanches and Wilfried Bony in the final hours of the window.

“Rafa says to us to keep the faith, and we believe in his words,” said Merino. “What we have to keep doing is keep trying hard, keep playing, and the main thing is to keep doing good things and if we do it then we know good things will come. We are with our coach and we know this is the way to act.”

Meanwhile, two Newcastle team-mates will go head-to-head tonight as Republic of Ireland host Serbia in a crucial World Cup qualifier that will go a long way towards determining which side secure automatic passage to next summer’s finals in Russia.

Serbia currently sit two points clear of the Republic at the top of Group D, and will be hoping Aleksandar Mitrovic extends his run of having scored in his last five international appearances.

Ciaran Clark will be trying to stop him at the heart of the Irish defence though, with Martin O’Neill’s side knowing a win is all-but-essential if they are to avoid a battle with Wales for second position in the group and a play-off place.

“It may be the case that I’ll be marked by Ciaran, and will enjoy that challenge,” said Mitrovic, who is banned for Newcastle’s next three domestic matches after the FA handed out a retrospective punishment for an elbowing incident with Manuel Lanzini. “I will also get to see a former colleague, Daryl Murphy, but the focus will totally be on beating Ireland.

“We know Ireland will come out fighting, and have a full house in Dublin supporting them. This will be a much harder test than Moldova (who they beat on Saturday), but we deserve to be in first place and want to stay there.

“We are not even thinking about slipping to second and settling for a play-off spot at this point. Our Serbian team is in a good place right now. We have not qualified for a major tournament since 2010, but this team needed to grow and now we see the good work resulting in our top position.”