Newcastle United endured an Easter Monday Championship defeat to Ipswich Town to exacerbate a poor run of form.
Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez
Newcastle United boss Rafael Benitez has told Sky Sports that his side were ‘not mentally ready’ ahead of their 3-1 Championship humbling by Ipswich Town – the Magpies’ second defeat from their last three winless games.
Despite a goal from former Tractor Boy Daryl Murphy, Newcastle were downed by strikes from Ipswich’s Freddie Sears, David McGoldrick and a late third from Emyr Huws – ensuring that Newcastle left East Anglia empty handed and pondering yet another setback on their quest for an automatic promotion to the Premier League.
Indeed, having been fluctuating with Brighton and Hove Albion for the top spot in the Championship for the majority of the campaign, Newcastle have hit a poor run of form of late; which has now seen Benitez’s team win just two of their previous eight games – leaving the Magpies closer to third placed Reading in the play-off places (six points) than Brighton at the summit of the division (seven points).
Benitez’s side began the Easter weekend double-header with a 1-1 draw with Leeds United on Friday, before their fruitless fixture at Portman Road.
Newcastle United’s Daryl Murphy scores their first goal
The likelihood is that Newcastle may well secure the coveted second place at the season’s end, however, Benitez’s comments in the aftermath of the Ipswich defeat could act as cause for concern amongst supporters of the club.
When speaking to Sky Sports, Benitez said, “I am concerned about the change in my team’s performance from Leeds on Friday to the performance today. We know we have to win our games and now we have to change and improve.
“We knew it was going to be this kind of game but we were not ready – it seems we were not mentally ready. We made mistakes and we got paid for it.”
Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez
Despite the result, Newcastle remain hopeful of achieving the eight points required to see a Premier League return without a play-off necessity. Benitez’s men have three Championship games left – with Preston North End and Barnsley visiting St. James’ Park, sandwiched between a potentially trickier trip to play Cardiff City.
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