WITH the focus now centred on a midweek trip to Lisbon, French midfielder Yohan Cabaye has urged his team-mates not to forget about domestic matters as Newcastle United look to conquer Europe.

The Magpies warmed up for Thursday's Europa League quarter-final first leg with Benfica by losing 4-0 to a Manchester City team seemingly intent on finishing the campaign strongly even if they are 15 points behind leaders Manchester United.

It was a performance which infuriated Newcastle players and management alike at the Etihad, where they failed to seriously threaten while leaving too many gaps for the reigning champions to score.

But Cabaye is keen not to dwell too long on Saturday's defeat, claiming they now need to concentrate on improvements ahead of a cup date with Benfica and crucial league fixtures which will determine their Premier League future.

“Every game for us now is very important,” said Cabaye. “First of all we have to show on Thursday night that we have learned from mistakes at Manchester City and make sure we get into the second leg at home with good results behind us.

“We need good results, nothing else. From now until the end of the season every game is going to be like a final for us and the main thing we have to have in our mind is that we have to be safe because we want to play in the Premier League next season. We have to fight for that and this wasn't right here.”

On returning from Lisbon, Newcastle face Fulham and Sunderland at St James' Park with the return leg with Benfica sandwiched in between. It is a run of four fixtures which is likely to determine whether the season has the potential to be regarded as a success or failure.

But Cabaye was adamant that there was not a single member of the Newcastle dressing room distracted by the Europa League during Saturday's trip to Manchester City.

He said: “That's unfair. The best way to prepare for the game on Thursday would have been to play well against the Premier League champions. I think and I hope nobody out there was thinking about the Europa League games.

“We were just really poor and without our usual qualities out on the pitch. Nobody was thinking about a Europa League game. If you come to a team like Manchester City and think of another game that would be very strange.”

But the France international, acting skipper in the absence of Fabricio Coloccini, was not amused by the manner of Newcastle's collapse in Manchester.

Cabaye said: “We played like a team that wanted a draw. It was the wrong mentality. The second half was entirely different and if we'd scored one it would have been a different game. It's hard.

“I don't know why we started so poorly. We lacked technique, failed to keep the ball – we kept losing it. We made it difficult for ourselves. We also played too deep, that didn't help.”

Newcastle could be boosted by the return of left-back Davide Santon (groin) and Massadio Haidara (knee) to the squad. Both will be monitored today to see if he can travel to Portugal tomorrow. Midfielder Cheik Tiote's hamstring strain will also be assessed.

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