JUST when it seemed Newcastle United would head to Spain for a training camp with smiles on their faces, a last-gasp equaliser left Rafa Benitez and his team seething.

There would have been no better way than to leave Molineux behind than to have secured the first of four victories Benitez thinks will seal Premier League football for a further year.

But Wolverhampton Wanderers snatched a point in the fifth minute of added time, when a minimum of four were announced, when Willy Boly – at the centre of an elbow storm when the two sides met in December – embarrassed goalkeeper Martin Dubravka by heading in a late leveller.

While this season’s surprise package in the Premier League might have been expected to carry on their recent impressive form to close the gap to the top six, it was the Magpies who looked set to be more satisfied with the outcome.

This was a night when Newcastle knew they had to come up with a performance and a positive result after slipping back down the standings following the weekend’s results.

Newcastle, who handed a debut to £20m record signing Miguel Almiron with 18 minutes to go, displayed the determination and resilience that brought rewards against Cardiff and Manchester City to come within a whisker of a third win from four league games.

Having prevented a dangerous Wolves from gaining the upperhand for almost an hour, midfielder Isaac Hayden was in the right place to convert a finish and put Newcastle ahead with 33 minutes remaining.

It was only Hayden’s second Premier League goal for the club, his first since 2017, and capped another strong performance in the middle alongside the similarly impressive Sean Longstaff.

But Boly’s header means Newcastle headed for five days in Spain smarting that they now only have a point cushion over the bottom three - just 24 hours after Benitez suggested it would take four more wins for his team to stay up come May.

The presence of Almiron, signed from Atlanta United in the MLS, will have excited the travelling fans and by the time he got on the pitch to make his Premier League debut, Newcastle had a lead to hold on to.

Benitez didn’t want to change things just to accommodate the club’s record buy, and nor should he after the recent performances. Two wins from their previous three league games, meant the same starting line-up for the fourth game in a row, so Antonio Barreca, the other January arrival, had to miss out.

That familiar looking Newcastle defence knew it could be in for a tough night beforehand; Wolves had scored ten times in their previous three Premier League games to climb to seventh in their first season back in the top league.

It was no surprise to see wing-backs Matt Ritchie and DeAndre Yedlin starting deep alongside the back three, but both soon pushed on to give Wolves something to think about in a defensive sense.

The positive nature of Newcastle’s opening quietened down a packed Molineux but the talent in the home side’s ranks meant the visitors had to be on their guard every time the golden shirts moved forward.

Wing-back Jonny Otto and playmaker Diogo Jota had clearly been instructed to make life hard for Yedlin down Newcastle’s left, and from one move involving those two an opening was carved. Just when it seemed Raul Jimenez would test Dubravka, Christian Atsu did enough to make a fine late challenge optimistic despite claims for a penalty.

Following the victories for Cardiff and Burnley over the weekend, the onus was on Newcastle to follow those up with a win themselves to climb up to 14th. When the game settled, though, it seemed for that to happen they would have to have success on the break.

The nearest Newcastle had to come scoring before a late first half flurry was a pretty tame Salomon Rondon effort into Rui Patricio early on and then Fabian Schar fired an effort just wide from 22 yards.

Otherwise it had been about how well Schar and Co defended.

Yedlin found it particularly hard, and when Jimenez rounded him too easily with nine minutes of the first half remaining, the American must have been relieved to see Dubravka dive to his left and turn behind a goalbound shot.

Dubravka had to be alert again when a lowly driven strike from Jonny flew through a crowded area and the goalkeeper did well to hold when opposition players lurked for the rebound.

But Newcastle could easily have been ahead with the last, and best, attack of the half.

Rondon looked like he had done enough to create a fantastic opening when Ayoze Perez rolled him in, but Conor Coady did well to get back and deflect the shot narrowly wide for a corner.

The challenge that faced Newcastle was to repeat the first half display, and if they could have got Sean Longstaff and Isaac Hayden on the ball as much as they had in the first half then they had every chance of leaving with a victory.

Neither had even touched the ball when Wolves almost went ahead within minutes of the restart. A corner to the near post was flicked on by Jota and Matt Doherty, the match-winner at St James’ Park, somehow headed over the bar from two yards out. Longstaff did enough to put him off.

But then Hayden did get a touch, and a good one too.

When Schar spotted him in space in the Wolves penalty area, the pass was precise and the midfielder had the time to control before picking out the inside of Patricio’s near post.

That prompted Wolves to get going again. Leander Dendoncker turned a header at Dubravka, but otherwise Newcastle defended strongly from front to back, even when the home fans turned up the noise in a bid to urge Nuno Espirito Santo’s team forward.

Almiron – clearly out to impress with a hunger to get on the ball - got the closing stages to show some nice touches too, and his pace, when he replaced Atsu. There was a worrying scare too when he held his shin on the floor after a strong challenge from Joao Moutinho.

The Paraguayan survived that, before Newcastle as a team had to survive more scares. When former Middlesbrough winger Traore volleyed Ivan Cavaleiro’s cross back across goal, Jimenez ought to have headed on target but he missed from eight yards.

By the time the fourth official signalled four minutes of added time, Wolves had thrown everyone up.

It looked like Newcastle’s defending would do the job, but then Traore sent over the deep centre. Boly jumped, arms in front of him, Dubravka got in a mess and then the Wolves defender headed into the net to ruin a decent night for the visitors.