Survival is

bid to haul them up to 40 points.

“My future is not a priority at the moment,” said the Spaniard as his team sit four points clear of safety on 32 points. “The main thing is Huddersfield next.

“The job is not yet done – 40 points is the guarantee, the minimum to stay up.

“I’ve enjoyed being Newcastle manager when we are winning, but it’s difficult to enjoy it when you are suffering all the time – you have to win and you lose.”

Earlier in the season, Benitez claimed he couldn’t compete with Town on transfer fees or wages having been given a very small kitty by Ashley in recent windows.

Town broke their transfer record to sign Steve Mounie in the summer and Alex Pritchard’s £12m January move came closing to smashing it again.

Newcastle have the longeststanding record fee in the topflight, Michael Owen’s £22m transfer in 2005 still their highest spend.

“We have to change things,” said the frustrated boss. “I came here to compete and create a strong team, a strong club.

“The way Newcastle were doing things before I arrived doesn’t mean they were right, because they were going down.

“Now we have had the chance to go up we cannot make the same mistakes again.”

Adding to his issues, Benitez is now sweating on the fitness of key man Matt Richie after the winger pulled out of the Scotland squad with a groin injury after the 1-0 defeat to Costa Rica.

There is better news on Islam Slimani, the former Leicester City striker in line for a debut after being sent back to Tyneside to complete his recovery.

Wagner could well be boosted in his bid to outwit Rafa, with Jon Gorenc Stankovic and Terence Kongolo both set for returns.