THEY might have started the season miserably, but Newcastle United can point to their eight Premier League matches so far and cite mitigating factors for their failings. Taking on five of the top six? Always going to be difficult. Cardiff away? A missed penalty. Palace? A decent defensive display. Leicester? Disappointing, but the Foxes were winning the title a couple of seasons ago.

Today, that changes. This afternoon, Newcastle host a Brighton side that are one of their direct rivals in the relegation battle, and that have not won a Premier League away game for more than 12 months.

Yes, Chris Hughton’s side won last time out, seeing off West Ham United at the Amex. Yes, they outspent Newcastle in the summer, bolstering a squad that finished in 15th position last term. Yes, they picked up four points from their two games against the Magpies last season.

Be that as it may. The harsh reality is that Newcastle’s current difficulties will have developed into a full-blown crisis if they fail to claim a first win of the season this afternoon. If they cannot beat Brighton at St James’ Park, it is fair to ask where on earth their first success is going to come from.

“If you see all the teams coming up now, then apart from Liverpool, if you do well, you can win,” said Benitez. “Against some of the top sides, even if you do well, maybe it is not enough. But if you do well in these next games, you can win. I am not saying you have to win or you will win, but you can win, that is the point.

“The problem with the fixtures at the start of the season is that it’s been bad for confidence, but you can expect that. Everyone knew it was the worst start for any Premier League team when the fixtures came out. As soon as we win the first game it will be easier, and we expect to win this game.”

Benitez’s belief stems from the work he has witnessed on the training ground in the last fortnight, as well as the lessons that were learned last season, when the Magpies struggled in the bottom third of the table for most of the first half of the campaign before eventually hauling themselves into tenth position.

Back then, Newcastle’s supporters stood by their team and there was a powerful sense of unity that transmitted itself onto the pitch. That is in danger of being broken this season, with increased protests at Mike Ashley’s ownership and suggestions of training-ground tensions that culminated in a bust-up between Jamaal Lascelles and Matt Ritchie.

Benitez was quick to brush aside any suggestion of splits within the camp, and training-ground sources insist the squad remains as tight as it was last season. Retaining the supporters’ undivided affection is just as important though, and it was interesting that Benitez used his pre-match press conference yesterday to leap on critical comments made by Brighton skipper Bruno.

Bruno suggested that the St James’ Park crowd could turn against their own players if things are not going well today, and Benitez’s decision to highlight the Spaniard’s comments on a number of occasions reflects his determination to avoid any unwelcome dissent.

“Our only problem is that if you are not winning, you lose confidence,” he said. “We have to make sure we keep the belief and the confidence. The way the players are training, for me, is fine. You can see they still have the belief. They were training well and working hard.

“That is why I said what I said about Bruno and his comments - our fans appreciate that (the effort). When we were in the Championship, we had a team where the players cared. They made mistakes, but they cared, so the fans know they have to support the team.

“Now is a great opportunity. You have to support the team for 90 minutes. It is your team, you have to be united. We want to be in the Premier League next year, the city wants to be in the Premier League next year.

“It doesn’t change anything if you criticise the manager, the substitutions, the players on the pitch, or whatever you want to criticise. It will not change anything. We have to concentrate on what we can change.”

The January transfer window will provide an opportunity to enact radical change, and Benitez discussed transfer issues with managing director Lee Charnley when the pair met earlier this week.

Head of recruitment, Steve Nickson, has been monitoring potential targets, although in an all-too-predictable turn of events, Benitez admits he does not know what budgetary constraints he will be working within when the transfer window reopens at the turn of the year.

“When will we know the budget? Maybe just before January. I hope so, anyway,” said Benitez. “The way that you work is not, ‘Oh, here is £20m now’. No, we are still in October. We have to concentrate on games, and tell the recruitment team what we are looking for.

“We have told them we are looking for a certain characteristic of player, or certain positions. They start working on that, and then we have players at different price levels.”