IF there was one moment that summed up Newcastle United’s problems against Leicester City, it arrived when Rafael Benitez’s side were a goal down and supposedly chasing the game with only 21 minutes were left on the clock.

Christian Atsu, a winger not short of pace, picked up possession near half-way. He had space in front of him to burst into but instead opted to check back and roll a routine, short pass back to a team-mate nearer to his own goal. The disgust of the home crowd was clear.

Having threatened, and wasted, two fantastic chances to open the scoring early in the first half, thereafter Newcastle did not look like a team capable of scoring. Nor did they resemble a team with the quality and determination to do so.

It would be wrong to suggest Newcastle only lost the game because of that one Atsu incident, but what it displayed was an attack-minded player lacking the confidence to attack those in front of him.

This has been a season when Benitez’s tactics, frequently defensively-minded because he feels his players suit it that way, have been discussed more than any other and decision making like Atsu’s doesn’t help paint a picture of a group of players wanting to make their mark.

There was also a moment when Benitez was booed for replacing Matt Ritchie, one of the Newcastle’s better performers on the day, which isn’t saying much, for Jacob Murphy.

That the manager was criticised for that, on an afternoon when Mike Ashley was abused by fans on his first home game appearance since May 2017, highlighted how suddenly there is growing scrutiny of his decisions.

After all, regardless of the fact he wasn’t given enough money to invest in his squad during the summer, Benitez has still allowed in-form strikers like Aleksandar Mitrovic and Dwight Gayle to leave and Newcastle are now without a win in seven Premier League games.

It is also worth noting that Benitez stated in August that his squad was stronger than last season, even if he didn’t get the players in he wanted.

Atsu said: “For us the most important thing is that the manager is very good for us. We are happy with him and the way we play, we have to stick together.

“It was the same last season, we played the same system and in the Championship we did too. If something is wrong it is not because of the system it is because of the players. We have to remember that.

“We have to stick together, try to improve, each and every player has to improve two per cent, five per cent. If we win one game the atmosphere will change.

“This defeat feels worse, this is the worst one because we could have won the game. We are disappointed. There was low intensity in the game after we missed our chances. They had possession but we had the chances to win. They took their chances.”

The only effort Newcastle recorded on target against Leicester was the hopeful floater from Jonjo Shelvey in the first half when he spotted Kasper Schmeichel off his line from half-way. That said, Newcastle still should have been ahead. Arguably the best two chances of the entire game fell to the home side in four first half minutes, and Schmeichel wasn’t tested on either occasion.

The first of those fell to Joselu. The Spanish striker did little to improve his relationship with the fans when he somehow failed to get a shot away following a lovely through pass from Ayoze Perez. Joselu took an age to make his mind up and Harry Maguire charged over, slid in and thwarted.

Then Atsu’s perfect delivery from the left was crying out for a decent header and Mo Diame, another one of the players to be short of his best, directed a downward header wide of the post from ten yards when it looked easier to score.

Atsu said: “It is for the wingers and strikers to score more goals and to try to do something. The blame has to be on us. I myself have a responsibility to do more up front and to score, we can’t blame anyone. We will improve and we will show the fans that to make things happy again.

“We accept responsibility, all the players. After the game we always speak, the manager always speaks. It is down to us, the fans did a fantastic job, we will not say anything against them. We know they deserve more and we will try to change that.”

Newcastle’s profligacy is highlighted by the fact they are the only team in the entire Football League not to have taken the lead this season; contributing to the fact that it is the first time in the club’s history that they have lost four home games in a row.

There was a sense of inevitability about this one as soon as Jamie Vardy converted the penalty with precision to Martin Dubravka’s right on half hour, after Maguire’s effort on target had been blocked by the arm of Kenedy.

And, after one of two decent penalty shouts involving Perez and Maguire was waved away either side of the break, Leicester made the points safe with 17 minutes remaining. The impressive James Maddison, a £20m signing looking ideal to play a supporting attacking role, floated over a corner for Maguire to beat Ciaran Clark to and nod beyond Dubravka.

That was the cue for more chants of “stand up if you hate Ashley” and “where’s the money gone” from the supporters, who were well aware that the club’s billionaire owner was in the directors’ box.

Flanked by managing director Lee Charnley and his PR advisor Keith Bishop, Ashley can’t have been impressed with what he had witnessed. Whether he is trying to sell up to Peter Kenyon or not, the value of Newcastle United will fall even further if they can’t climb out of the bottom three.

Atsu said: “We feel bad and we are very disappointed about this result. I think the fans deserve more. Last season we didn’t win in nine games in a row and we stayed together. We came out after that changed everything, this should be a motivation for the team.”

Far too many players are under performing at the moment, some don’t look comfortable in what they are being asked to do.

Benitez has a track record of being able to deliver, now he must again or the prospect of a season long relegation fight will be a reality before November.