WHEN he sends his Newcastle United players into action at the Vitality Stadium this afternoon, Rafael Benitez will tell them they are battling against two opponents. The first is a Bournemouth side that sits one place above them in the table. The other is the complacency that is hard to avoid when Premier League safety is in touching distance. On the evidence of this month’s defeat at West Ham, the latter could be the most damaging to their hopes of picking up an away win.

With a tally of 34 points on the board, Newcastle might need just one more win to safeguard their Premier League status. Win two of their final eight fixtures, and they will surely find themselves playing top-flight football again next season.

With home matches against Crystal Palace and Southampton still to come, the Magpies can enjoy a degree of comfort despite Cardiff City’s recent rally, but with security comes relaxation.

Benitez felt his side switched off when they travelled to the London Stadium, and is determined to avoid a repeat against Bournemouth. Newcastle might have moved to within touching distance of safety, but they are not there yet.

“We made a mistake against West Ham,” said the Magpies manager. “I know some people were saying, ‘Rafa will not allow them to do that (be complacent)’. I was trying my best to say, ‘Don’t underestimate anyone, but then you go to the game and concede two quick goals. It can happen.

“You are dealing with humans and young players and it can happen. We need to make sure we are safe, and then see what we can do. We have to ensure we are solid, we keep focus and we have balance. If we keep doing that, we will have a chance.

“I couldn’t feel complacency before the West Ham game, but this week we have been talking about the same thing.”

A month or so ago, Benitez was predicting that a haul of 38 points would guarantee top-flight survival. Cardiff’s resurgence has clouded the picture somewhat, with a run of three wins from the last six games having taken the Bluebirds to 28 points with eight games still to play.

It is conceivable they could pass the 38-point mark before the end of the season, which would pile the pressure on Burnley, Southampton and Brighton, who currently sit just outside the relegation zone.

Newcastle would almost certainly be in trouble if they remained on 34 points, so Benitez is understandably keen to get another four or five points on the board as quickly as possible to avoid a fraught end to the season.

“Every week, it can change a little bit, but I think still 38 will be enough,” he said. “But okay, we will see. Just in case, we can go for 40 and then after, carry on.

“Is it hard not to be distracted? Not for me. And I have told the players that it’s just one game at a time, just focus, don’t make the same mistakes, try to get three points in this game.

“Every game, every point will be really, really important. We have to just concentrate and repeat and repeat and repeat the message.”

Throughout Benitez’s reign, Newcastle have tended to peak towards the end of the season, and the Spaniard has praised his staff for ensuring his players are still mentally and physically strong in the final stages of a campaign.

The daily training schedules are devised to ensure a balanced workload, and while Jamaal Lascelles and Sean Longstaff might be absent this afternoon, a general lack of injuries remains a key feature of Benitez’s Tyneside tenure.

“I have to give credit to my staff,” he said. “The way we work, we normally manage the load of the training sessions quite well, then we go to this point and in February, we are doing better.

“I don’t know what other teams do, but I am confident in my staff because we have done this for years, not just now. Every year, we have generally followed a similar pattern.

“I would not always say there have been good results, because last year we lost four, but we were already safe. We have normally had good performances from the team.”