Eddie Howe believes that Newcastle United's precarious position is preventing his players making sensible decisions in games.
The Magpies held a 1-0 lead with just two minutes of normal time on the clock against Watford.
But they could not scrape over the line as they retreated further back but more frustratingly for Howe his side failed to get the insurance goal they needed after taking a 50th minute lead through Allan Saint-Maximin.
Howe said: "We saw Watford as a huge opportunity and that’s why it hurts so much.
"We were really pleased with what we saw up until half-time, so that gave us even more optimism that we could go on and win this match.
"One-nil for me is not the time to go into our shells it's to go on and make it 2-0.
"For me, that’s the time to put the game to bed, that’s the best way to handle that situation.
"But we have to understand the players’ mentality at this moment in time, maybe not thinking the same way, so that’s something we can change."
Newcastle now go into next weekend's game at Leeds knowing the pressure is boiling in the bottom four but also aware that climbing out of the relegation zone was just two minutes away on Saturday.
Howe said: "There are a lot of twists and turns to come.
"We still believe in ourselves and the players, but obviously we know that every game gets more and more important."
