RAFAEL BENITEZ has warned things will get ‘even worse’ for Newcastle United if they fail to make significant additions during the January transfer window.

The Magpies will attempt to arrest a four-game losing run when they travel to West Bromwich Albion this evening, with Saturday’s 3-0 home defeat to Watford having left them in 14th position, their lowest league placing since the end of August.

Recent results have provided something of a reality check after Newcastle were riding high in a European position earlier this season, but Benitez always feared his side were destined for a battle against the drop when Mike Ashley failed to sign a number of his leading targets during the summer transfer window.

Benitez has discussed the January window with chief executive Lee Charnley, but does not anticipate having major funds at his disposal. Amanda Staveley’s PCP Capital Partners group remain keen to complete a takeover, but with their opening bid of around £300m having been rejected, it is becoming increasingly difficult to see how a deal can be finalised before the end of the year. If Ashley remains in charge beyond January 1, he will be extremely reluctant to sanction any transfer-window spending with the club still on the market.

If Newcastle’s relegation rivals invest, that will leave the Magpies in an even more difficult position, a scenario Benitez regards as a strong possibility.

“My message today is to remind a lot of people that we have what we have, and we are where we are,” said the Magpies manager. “And it could get worse. I really don’t want to be right, but I knew last time that I could be right, and I was.

“On September 1, we knew it could be like this. We were surprised when the team was in the top six or top eight because the reality is that we have a team which has to compete at the bottom of the table.

“I saw an article recently that showed the teams that have the top six wage bills. Who are they? They are the top six in the table. Simple. We have just arrived in the Premier League, and some teams like Watford and Burnley have been here for two or three years, and the wages and transfer fees they pay are bigger than us. It is a fact.

“I was very clear in my meetings (in the summer), and I was right. I was right because I was telling them this and that. Everybody has an opinion – that’s football – but our fans have to realise that our reality is that, from September 1, this is the group of players we have, and we have to stick together, maybe until May. Maybe.”

Benitez clearly remains unhappy with the lack of support he received in the summer, when Ashley’s reluctance to compete with the sums being spent by almost all of Newcastle’s Premier League rivals became all too apparent.

The close season started badly when the St James’ Park hierarchy failed to land Tammy Abraham and Willy Caballero, and Benitez watched on with mounting frustration as a host of targets headed elsewhere. Some, such as Joe Hart, Eliaquim Mangala, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Andre Gray, were well documented. Others, such as Jack Cork, who moved to Burnley, and Sandro Ramirez, who joined Everton, were less well known.

Newcastle missed out on players to a majority of the clubs that now find themselves in the bottom half of the Premier League, including tonight’s opponents West Brom. Benitez was interested in Kieran Gibbs and Grzegorz Krychowiak, but found himself unable to match the financial packages put forward by the Baggies. As a result, he was left scouring the transfer bargain ban for cut-price additions such as Joselu, and always feared his squad lacked both quality and depth.

“We have to compete against teams like Huddersfield, Brighton or Burnley, but we couldn’t compete against those clubs and sign the players they were signing,” said Benitez. “We couldn’t pay the prices they were paying or the wages they were offering.

“The reality is that if you want to sign a striker who will score 20 goals every year, you must pay £40m. If you sign an average striker, it’s £15m or £20m. We didn’t do that. We are where we are because we did what we did. You cannot expect a player who cost £5m to perform like a player who cost £80m.”

Benitez’s challenge is to overcome the problems inherent in a lack of investment in order to guide his side to Premier League survival.

That remains the overriding ambition for the season, and the Spaniard insists it remains achievable as long as everyone sticks together and appreciates the difficulty of the task at hand.

“The reality is the reality, and our fans, who have been amazing home and away, know,” said Benitez, who can call on Isaac Hayden this evening after the midfielder completed his suspension. “The problem is we were doing so well at the beginning that maybe they thought we could do even better, but as soon as you have two or three injuries, then you know the squad is not as big as it seems and we have to manage the situation.

“My concern is that when I came here, a lot of people were questioning the players’ commitment. In the Championship, no one was questioning it, and this year when we were sixth in the table no one was saying it either.

“Now, the team is still working very hard, and I am reminding people of this. This group is doing very well, but they may be low on confidence at times or not quite at their best level. But they are still working and trying to do their best, which is what I like. We all have to stick together.”

Newcastle (probable, 4-2-3-1): Elliot; Yedlin, Lejeune, Clark, Manquillo; Shelvey, Hayden; Ritchie, Perez, Murphy; Joselu.