DESPITE a fourth defeat in a row that increased fears of relegation, Rafael Benitez insists Newcastle United remain on course for Premier League survival – but they can’t afford many more afternoons like Saturday’s.

The Magpies turned in a performance resembling a top-flight struggler, as Watford’s improvements under Marco Silva continued in front of a frustrated crowd at St James’ Park.

The Hornets, whose manager has been Everton’s choice to take over from the sacked Ronald Koeman, found it all too easy to leave Tyneside with three points after showing Newcastle the sort of energy levels required on a regular basis in the Premier League.

An own goal from DeAndre Yedlin followed Will Hughes’ earlier opener to put Watford into a two-goal lead at half-time and then Andre Gray struck a third just after the hour to complete the win.

It could easily have been an even bigger scoreline as Watford wasted several chances, leaving Newcastle to reflect on a thoroughly depressing afternoon.

And with Benitez not banking on a takeover taking place before the end of the year, he accepts there will hardly be room for major investment in his squad during the January transfer window.

He said: “It will be tough, but I still think we are in a good position. If my target for the first half of the season is 20 points and we have 14, we have to be sure we use these next six games to get those points and then try to improve in the second half of the season. We have to learn in the Premier League, that if you make one mistake …

“It is just to realise we have to be a group and we have to do things better against West Brom on Tuesday.”

Newcastle’s four wins in the league since returning to the Premier League have been against teams fighting against the drop – Swansea, West Ham, Crystal Palace and Stoke – so Benitez will hope that continues against the 17th- placed Baggies tomorrow night.

Intriguingly, West Brom could have former Newcastle manager Alan Pardew in charge by then, as he looks set to be the man to replace Tony Pulis. Benitez will not be thinking too heavily about that, knowing he just needs to lift a squad gloomy after the Watford display.

The fact Newcastle have such a young pool of players – they boast the youngest average age of a starting line-up in the division – could make it harder for Benitez to lift spirits.

He said: “We did really well at the beginning, now we have to keep working with this group and they are working really hard but there is a lack of experience sometimes.

“If you see what we did at the beginning, we were OK. We concede and concede and it’s more difficult for young players in the Premier League and we know we have to win games and we are at home and you expect against Watford you have a chance.

“Mentality is not the issue, we started well and we were reacting, but after the third goal we were more open and we got exposed on the counter attack.

“Confidence is important in any team, especially a young team. When you are winning it gets easier. The only way is to stick together.

“After the game I just said what we did wrong. If you lose a game through lack of character or passion, but here we made mistakes. This team has the passion and character to come through this.”

There were also signs of frustration among the supporters, particularly with striker Joselu. Fans applauded the decision to take him off in the second half when he was replaced by Aleksandar Mitrovic, who is clearly not in Benitez’s thinking.

The Spanish boss, likely to revert back to his preferred lone striker system after starting with Joselu and Dwight Gayle in attack, said: “I think the fans have been really good all season, but maybe after this game a lot of them will realise it’s not a question of players or what system we play, it is about sticking together, and we will have more problems.

“This is what we have. We have a team of young players and they are working hard. But we are playing against good teams who are organised.

“We made a mistake and went behind but after that we reacted. In the final third, the last decisions are the more important thing. We have to understand, some of our players are young and they don’t have the experience to manage the situation.”