Rafa Benitez has rubbished any claims that there is a crisis of confidence in the Newcastle United camp.

The Magpies slumped to their fifth defeat in six games and are sitting just above the relegation places in the Premier League.

But Benitez feels that the players he has at his disposal are working as hard as they can, and the big issue at United is the difference in quality between themselves and the big boys.

Newcastle’s team cost around £72million to assemble and they came out second best against the £300million plus powers of Chelsea.

When asked directly if confidence was a problem, Benitez replied: “No, it’s a problem with the level of the Premier League.

“You could see the team working really hard.

“You could see the team were still trying as they forced two corners towards the end (at 3-1).

Show Player

“But that is the Premier League.”

Benitez then made it clear he wasn’t worried about Newcastle’s run of results and the fact the last win came back in October against Crystal Palace.

He said: “I am not really concerned about anything apart from improvement with the players that I have at this time, that’s it.”

Benitez was jeered by Chelsea fans during the game, but insisted it had no affect on his concentration.

He said: “I didn’t realise anything, I was just concentrating on the game.”