Newcastle United boss Rafa Benitez admits he's fed up with the club's situation.

Benitez's relationship with owner Mike Ashley will come under further scrutiny after the Spaniard's comments less than a week before the start of the new Premier League season.

"I have a lot of confidence in this group of players but they (the club) know we have to do something if we want to improve the competition between players," Benitez said at a press conference following the 1-0 pre-season home defeat to Augsburg on Saturday.

"If you are asking me if it is ideal, I would say no, because the way that I like to work is doing things early.

"But we can't do that at the moment. It's just trying to improve as much as we can."