Rafael Benitez has demanded a reaction from his Newcastle United players as they head into their final two games of the Premier League season.

The Magpies slipped to a third successive defeat on Saturday as Watford ran out 2-1 winners at Vicarage Road.

Although Newcastle are safe from the drop, Benitez was not impressed with how his players have been performing since securing safety with five games to spare and has called for improvements.

"I was really proud of this group of players because they were doing really well," Benitez told Chronicle Live. "Now, still I am proud of them, but I would like to see the team winning and finish the season on a high.

"It will be a pity that all the hard work, all the good things that we have done, would just end with us losing a lot of games in a row.

"You can see other teams are still fighting against relegation. But with five games to go we were safe, so it was a fantastic achievement for this group of players.

"But now we have to continue trying to do our best. It is not just to carry on and finish the season, we have to do something better to finish with a good taste in our mouths."

Next up for Newcastle is a trip to Wembley to face Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday, followed by a visit from Chelsea on Sunday, May 13.