Newcastle United fans woke up on the morning of the 26th November with a smile on their face.

Their team was set to break a long standing record - dating back to the Kevin Keegan era - by winning 10 consecutive matches and all that stood in their way was lowly relegation candidates Blackburn.

Newcastle were top of the league with a lot of breathing space and they looked impenetrable at the back and unstoppable going forward.

Owen Coyle's downbeat and out of sorts Rovers side stood no chance at St James' Park, did they?

Football works in mysterious ways and the Championship threw up yet another famous twist in the tale as Charlie Mulgrew's goal was enough to beat a much-changed (for some reason) Newcastle side, who were just not at the races. You can find odds for Newcastle winning the league at MyBookie.

Still, no need to panic.

They were still top of the league and still had their EFL Cup quarter final against Premier League relegation fodder Hull City and a chance to show that the Magpies' squad is definitely good enough to be competing in the top flight.

But despite dominating the chances in normal time and playing against ten men for the duration of extra time, Newcastle could only muster a 1-1 draw before losing on penalties to the Tigers.

So time to refocus on the league and win away at struggling Nottingham Forest.

Disaster struck in the first half though as Jonjo Shelvey and Paul Dummett were both sent off but ex-Nottingham Forest 'keeper Karl Darlow spared their blushes with two fine penalty saves.

Furthermore Matt Ritchie put the Magpies ahead when they had 10 men so they needed to hold that 1 goal lead for the second half.

An early Nicklas Bendtner goal set the precedent for an expected Forest onslaught but Darlow was never really tested again until a late Jamaal Lascelles own goal - against his former side - condemned Newcastle to three straight defeats.

However it is still not time to panic.

Brighton failed to beat lowly Cardiff so Newcastle are still top, by 1 point.

They have a six point gap between them and third place, which is also positive as promotion is the key goal.

Benitez now has a week to regroup his troops and get them back to winning ways next week against Birmingham.

He still has the most talented squad in the league at his disposal, that hasn't changed.

The Championship is a long, gruelling and difficult league to navigate your way to promotion in so Newcastle can expect the odd blip; it's not a time to panic so much as a time to take a moment to relax, ground yourselves and go again with a win next week.

Newcastle fans - are you worried yet? Will you return to winning ways against Bournemouth? Let us know in the comments below...