MX23RW : Saturday, November 23 23:50:25| >> :60:185:185:

Rafael Benitez: 'We cannot afford to continue making mistakes'

Rafael Benitez warns his Newcastle United players that, unlike last season in the Championship, they can no longer afford to make sloppy mistakes.

Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez has urged his players "to learn quickly" after losing back-to-back games in the Premier League.

The Magpies' solid start to the campaign on their return to the top flight has started to deteriorate slightly over the past fortnight, having slipped to successive 1-0 defeats against Burnley and Bournemouth.

Benitez admits that the demands of top-tier football is something that his Newcastle players have to get used to, with any sort of mistake - no matter how minor - often being capitalised on, as witnessed in recent games.

"We have to learn quickly what it means in the Premier League and what it means to make mistakes," he told reporters. "It's not like in the Championship when you make mistakes and you can win.

"If you make a mistake, you pay for that. We have to learn what we have and what we have to do and how to react if something is right or if something is wrong.

"It seemed that we were learning quickly, but now we are making mistakes and paying for that. We have to be sure we're more focused and concentrate, especially in the last minutes of a game. We have to keep working hard."

Next up for United after the two-week international break is a trip to face second-placed Manchester United at Old Trafford.

ID:311370: cacheID:311370:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:2166:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Hamburg's Lewis Holtby celebrates after his side defeat Borussia Monchengladbach 3-0 on September 11, 2015
Read Next:
Report: Newcastle back in for Holtby
>
Read more about Rafael Benitez Football
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool119112161528
2Manchester CityMan City127232217523
3Chelsea126422314922
4Arsenal126422112922
5Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton126422116522
6Tottenham HotspurSpurs1261527131419
7Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest125431513219
8Aston Villa125431919019
9Newcastle UnitedNewcastle115331311218
10Fulham125341717018
11Brentford125252222017
12Manchester UnitedMan Utd114341212015
13Bournemouth124351617-115
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham113351319-612
15Everton122551017-711
16Leicester CityLeicester122461523-810
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves122372028-89
18Crystal Palace121561017-78
19Ipswich TownIpswich111551222-108
20Southampton11119721-144


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!