Rafael Benitez firmly believes that Newcastle United will continually improve as the season progresses.

Despite taking the lead twice, Newcastle United only managed a 2-2 draw against Southampton at the St. Mary's Stadium on Sunday.

Despite the slightly disappointing result considering the circumstances, Benitez was left very encouraged by the Magpies' performance on the day.

Benitez said: "I told them before the game: 'We have to approach every game thinking about how difficult the Premier League is, how strong are the other teams?'

"But if we work hard and if we try to learn in every training session, from every game, then we will be better. Against Southampton, maybe we can improve this kind of situation that allowed them to play counter attack or create some chances.

"And we have to continue doing the things that we did, which is to react and get on top of them and try to go forward and try to score."