Newcastle United boss Rafael Benitez has revealed that he will only seek players that will give the Magpies "something different" in this month's January transfer window.

United suffered their second defeat in three games at Ewood Park, as the 1-0 defeat saw Brighton and Hove Albion leapfrog the Toon Army into first place with a two-point lead and a game in hand.

The defeat against Blackburn Rovers was hard to take from everyone involved after a remarkable 25 shots on the Rovers goal brought no glory. But despite the dominant display, the travelling away support were understandably disappointed by their side's seventh defeat of the season.

Benitez men simply need to find a new way to win games, and which raises the topic of January reinforcements.

January business - Newcastle will only buy if the right players are available

With Jonjo Shelvey banned for another two games and attacking players in Mohammed Diame and Christian Atsu jetting off to the African Cup of Nations, the seemingly lack of offensive threat may be troubling sets of the supporters.

Still, with the near future seeming a struggle for the Magpies, Benitez told ChronicleLive that they are "not yet" close to any winter transfers. In fact, Sammy Ameobi, a player who has not featured for Newcastle's first team since May 2015, has had to recalled from Bolton Wanderers to offer cover.

Despite United's festive struggle, Benitez has suggested he is content by defending his players after their defeat on Monday by stating, “playing like this, I think we can win games even without these players (new signings)".

The 56-year-old told that he is only "trying to find the right players" and that they have "to be players that give us some balance or be better than what we have at the moment."

Newcastle have already reportedly moved to strengthen the central midfield position with loan moves for Tom Cleverley, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Fabian Delph being speculated. All three are fringe players for their respective Premier League sides, but if Benitez was to bring at least one of the three to Tyneside, it would be a great coup, though "January is not an easy window" reiterated Benitez, and also labelled it a "strange one" because "there have been a lot of changes."

Everton's Tom Cleverley is wanted by Newcastle (Image: GettyImages)
Everton's Tom Cleverley is wanted by Newcastle (Image: GettyImages)

But Benitez has promised supporters that they will try to find some new additions "that will give us something different."

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About the author
Jordan Cronin
Sports Journalist. Editor/ Writer for the Newcastle United office.