NEWCASTLE UNITED finished the transfer window with a new striker and goalkeeper, but Rafael Benitez admitted the club had allowed opportunities to slip through their hands by not conducting their business at the start of the month.

Benitez finally landed the new striker he had been craving when Leicester City’s Islam Slimani completed a season-long loan that will see Newcastle pay around £2m to secure his services for the remainder of the campaign.

The Algeria international arrives on Tyneside nursing a minor thigh injury, but there is an outside chance he could feature in the squad for Sunday’s game at Crystal Palace, with the Magpies one point above the relegation zone after tonight’s 1-1 draw with Burnley.

Slimani replaces Aleksandar Mitrovic, who endured a chaotic deadline-day that saw him travel to Brussels to undergo a medical with his former club, Anderlecht. Mitrovic gave a series of interviews to the Belgian press as he clearly thought he was joining Anderlecht on loan, but Newcastle pulled the plug on the deal and instead entered negotiations with Bordeaux and Fulham.

Having completed part of his Fulham medical in Brussels, the Serbia international made a late-night dash to London to sign the necessary paperwork with the Championship club, and his move should be officially confirmed tomorrow morning.

Newcastle also signed goalkeeper Martin Dubravka on loan from Sparta Prague, and the Slovakia international was at St James’ Park this evening to watch Karl Darlow’s unfortunate late own goal deprive the Magpies of what would have been a first home league win since mid-October.

Dubravka has also joined on loan, although his deal includes a clause that could see Newcastle complete a permanent deal in the summer. A 29-year-old who has previously played in Slovakia, Denmark and the Czech Republic, he is set to make his Magpies debut at Selhurst Park this weekend.

As well as Mitrovic leaving, Newcastle also saw five other players depart on what was an unexpectedly busy deadline day.

Henri Saivet moved to Turkey as he sealed a loan deal with Sivasspor, while Rolando Aarons turned down the opportunity of a move to Hull City in order to make a surprise switch to Italian Serie A side Hellas Verona.

Jack Colback’s exile with Newcastle’s academy team came to an end as he joined Championship side Nottingham Forest, while youngster Jamie Sterry moved to League Two side Crewe Alexandra until the end of the season. Freddie Woodman was on the bench last night, but has joined Scottish Premier League side Aberdeen on loan.

It all amounted to a frantic final few hours of the window, but while Benitez has finally acquired the striker and goalkeeper he has been wanting since the start of the month, he is clearly frustrated that it took Mike Ashley and Lee Charnley more than three weeks to act on any of his plans.

Newcastle dropped two points from their home game with Swansea before they had signed anyone, and while loan signing Kenedy made his debut this evening, he was the only new face as the Magpies watched another two points slip through their grasp.

“We knew that to bring players early would be important for us,” said Benitez, after Darlow’s own goal cancelled out Jamaal Lascelles’ headed opener. “Especially with the games against Swansea, and with these two games (Burnley and Crystal Palace) coming up.

“If we have anyone coming and helping the team, fine. That’s it, we have to manage the situation we have. At the moment, we have Kenedy who has come to provide another kind of quality, and who is a good addition. If we bring anyone else, it has to be positive, for sure.”

Benitez did not want to discuss the specifics of today’s arrivals, although he is known to have pushed for Slimani’s signing at the start of the month. At that stage, it did not look as though Leicester would allow the striker to leave on loan, as they were only interested in a permanent deal.

Newcastle turned their attention to Feyenoord striker Nicolai Jorgensen, but were not willing to match the Eredivisie club’s €25m asking price for the Denmark international. That resulted in a last-ditch scramble that eventually ended with Leicester shifting their stance and allowing Slimani to move to Tyneside for the remainder of the campaign.

He joins a club that are in 14th position, one point clear of the bottom three, after failing to win a league game at St James’ Park for the eighth time in succession.

Joselu’s first-half penalty miss was a decisive moment, with the Spaniard rolling in a tame effort that Nick Pope saved, and Benitez was left to rue another wasteful night.

“We have seen some games – Everton, Swansea – where we deserved to win, but we couldn’t do it,” he said. “The reality is that we are creating enough chances to win games, but we are not defending in the way that we have to if we want to be sure we are going to win games at home.

“That is a pity, but it is a little bit of a lack of experience at times. We are in the second half of the league, so we have to learn quicker and not make these mistakes.

“We have to improve the results, but if you are talking about how we have played, then against Everton and Swansea we did well. Here, we had enough chances to win the game, but we didn’t do it. Sometimes, with the pressure, it makes you make more mistakes.”