RAFAEL BENITEZ admits that Newcastle United’s failure to sign a single player in the first 26 days of the transfer window highlights the extent of the club’s problems.

The Magpies crashed out of the FA Cup at the fourth round stage this afternoon as second-half goals from Andre Gray and Isaac Success condemned them to a 2-0 defeat to Watford.

Benitez has been desperate to make additions to his squad all month, but with the transfer window due to close on Thursday night, Newcastle are yet to make a breakthrough in the market.

A proposed loan deal for Lazio defender Jordan Lukaku was scrapped on Friday night when problems emerged with the full-back’s medical, and the Magpies’ attempts to sign Miguel Almiron have been deadlocked for weeks because of a refusal to meet Atlanta United’s $25m asking price for the Paraguayan forward.

Benitez admitted he was “disappointed” in the wake of his side’s latest early cup exit, and when he was asked whether that disappointment related to matters on or off the field, he said: “A little bit of everything, but I am a professional, so I am convinced that we will do what we have to do and in the end, we will stay up.

“But we have to concentrate and then be sure that we do the right things. Now, we don't have any excuses in terms of what we have to do. Every single game for us is a final and it could be until the end.”

When pressed on the club’s failure to recruit a single player this month, he added: “Today is the 26th, so I don't need to say too much. We don't have any players here.”

Benitez made seven changes for this afternoon’s game, and his alterations proved unsuccessful, with Jacob Murphy, Kenedy and Joselu all failing to make in impact in the final third.

The Newcastle boss felt he picked a strong enough side to have beaten a Watford team that featured 11 changes, but admitted the size of his squad makes it difficult to compete on more than one front.

He said: “I'm disappointed, obviously. I think this game, we could have won, doing a little bit more, we could have won this game.

“We didn't do it, but at the same time, proved that maybe we cannot make these 11 substitutions, so we have to try to maximise what we have.

“The fans, they know, so it's not that I have to explain every time the situation. We put a team on the pitch that could win, we didn't do it and that proved that we have to just concentrate on one competition.”