Rafael Benitez urges Newcastle United players to cut out mistakes

Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez has told his players that they must improve at both ends of the field if they are to avoid another relegation battle.

The Magpies lost for a second successive weekend as they went down 1-0 to fellow newly-promoted outfit Huddersfield Town on Sunday afternoon.

United looked shaky at the back at the John Smith's Stadium and failed to make the most of any openings that came their way up top, with opposition keeper Jonas Lossl only seriously worked on one occasion to keep out a Matt Ritchie attempt.

Speaking to BBC Sport after the match, Benitez said: "You cannot make too many mistakes in the Premier League. We made one mistake, gave [Aaron] Mooy too much time on the ball and we conceded.

"You have to take your chances. We tried to create more chances after the Matt Ritchie effort. The reaction from the team was good to going behind. We are at the beginning and we have to keep going. The only way to improve is to train harder."

Newcastle, who fell 2-0 at home to Tottenham Hotspur last week, had not previously lost their opening two games of a Premier League campaign since 1999-2000.