NOLBERTO Solano last night admitted Sunday's Old Trafford humbling had been a "reality check", but maintained European qualification remained a possibility, despite the convincing nature of last weekend's loss.

A 2-0 defeat to Manchester United is hardly an embarrassment, but Newcastle would have been on the end of a far worse hiding had Wayne Rooney and Louis Saha not spurned a succession of gilt-edged chances.

While the feelgood factor generated by Glenn Roeder's arrival still exists, Sunday's reverse has tempered the optimism that had accompanied the Magpies' six-game unbeaten run.

Solano accepts there is still considerable work to be done if Newcastle are to re-scale the heights they achieved in his first spell at the club.

But, with Manchester United likely to finish as Chelsea's closest challengers this season, the popular Peruvian midfielder insists it is important to keep Sunday's setback in perspective.

"The result is a reality check for us," said Solano, who has been an ever-present since shaking off a thigh injury in late October.

"We have made a lot of improvements in recent weeks, but we have been punished by a team who will make the most of any chances they are offered.

"We have come a long way in a short space of time, but we still have a long way to go until we are at the level of three or four years ago when we were consistently challenging for a place in the Champions League.

"That is what everyone is aiming for here, but this defeat has shown us that we must do a lot better against the best sides in the Premiership.

"We cannot be too disappointed because every team has a tough game when they play at Manchester United.

"We have had some good results recently and we have risen up the league. One defeat should not mean that is forgotten."

Sunday's defeat exposed significant weaknesses in the Newcastle ranks, with Jean-Alain Boumsong and Robbie Elliott failing to deal with Rooney's explosive threat and neither Alan Shearer nor Shola Ameobi offering anything of note in attack.

Everton's 3-1 win over Fulham relegated the Magpies to 12th but, with a seventh-placed finish offering the possibility of a UEFA Cup spot, European qualification remains just six points away.

With five of Newcastle's remaining nine games at home, a late charge up the table is hardly beyond the realms of possibility.

"I don't think Europe is impossible," said Solano. "It's very close between the teams challenging for a top-six place, but we also know we cannot drop many more points between now and the end of the season.

"We won five and drew one before the Manchester United defeat and we need a similar run again to really give ourselves a chance of finishing in the top six.

"We have Liverpool at home next weekend and that is another big test because the fans will expect us to respond to this defeat and the manager will also be looking for us to respond.

"The positive thing is that we have another game against a strong team next weekend and we can show everyone that we have closed the gap on them. That would set us up nicely for the FA Cup game against Chelsea."

In particular, the weekend visit of Liverpool will test the resolve of Peter Ramage.

The full-back's early howler led to Rooney opening the scoring last weekend and largely paved the way for the comprehensive defeat that followed.

Ramage's previous form had been consistently impressive and, after holding up his hand following Sunday's mistake, the 22-year-old will be desperate to atone for his error.

"Peter is a young man and we know he has done fantastically well this season," said Solano. "He has done a very good job in defence and this is just another experience for him.

"Everyone makes mistakes, I've made mistakes and so has every other Newcastle player. It happens in football, but we win as a team and we lose as a team.

"He knows he needs to be strong and forget about his mistake now. If he plays well against Liverpool, everyone else will forget about it as well."

* The odds on Italian Roberto Mancini taking over as Newcastle boss have been clipped following a bout of sustained support last weekend.

Mancini, who has hinted he would be willing to leave his current employers, Inter Milan, to join the Magpies, is now as short as 5-1 with North-East bookmakers Pagebet.

Martin O'Neill remains favourite, with the Football Association understood to be looking elsewhere in their search for a successor to Sven-Goran Eriksson.

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