Rafa Benitez admits he would rather be discussing a potential extension to his contract with Newcastle United already mathematically assured of being a Premier League side next season.
The 58-year-old revealed on Friday that he had resumed talks with the club's hierarchy, having postponed such negotiations earlier in the season until Newcastle were safe.
But, with rumours circulating that he had touting himself for jobs in France, Benitez felt the need to come out and confirm that he does want to commit himself to Newcastle - though he admitted he requires reassurances first.
Realistically, few people expect Newcastle to go down now - they are seven points clear of 18th-placed Cardiff City, who have six games remaining, though it is essentially eight points once goal-difference is taken into consideration - but they are yet to reach the 38-point mark which their manager believes will guarantee their top-flight status.
And, rather frustratingly, United failed to convert any of their chances during a game they dominated against Crystal Palace on Saturday, and eventually slumped to a 1-0 defeat against the Eagles - who secured their own Premier League future in the process.
“Yes, we can only talk about the game, that is the most-important thing," Benitez - whose current deal expires at the end of the season - replied when he was asked if he'd rather not discuss his contract situation until it is resolved.
"We had control of an important game and we could have got three points, and we could be talking [about the contract] because we are safe.
"But now we have to carry on and think every game is another final. I don’t want to talk about my contract.
“That [getting it resolved quietly] is what we are trying to do, but I don’t want to talk too much about that.”
Salomon Rondon, Florian Lejeune and DeAndre Yedlin were all guilty of missing excellent opportunities for Newcastle against Palace.
And, somewhat inevitably, they were punished by the Eagles on the counter-attack, with Wilfried Zaha forcing Yedlin to make a clumsy challenge in the box, and Luka Milivojevic then converted the resultant spot-kick.
“It could be, but we have to improve," Benitez said when it was put to him that the penalty came about following a loss of concentration from Newcastle's defence.
“When you play against a good team with experience and good players, you have to be consistent in the way you approach the game.
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"We were fine for a while, but when something goes wrong, we have to have more experience and manage it better. When you play in a hurry, you do things quicker and you make mistakes.
“The way that they play, we knew it would be like that. They have won seven games away from home and only four at home.
"We knew it could be like that and we were controlling everything for 80 minutes but we knew that one mistake could be a problem, and we could not avoid it, even though we had four defenders around [Zaha].
"After that, we have to manage the game, we had 17 minutes [including stoppage time] to try and do the right things, but we played in a rush."
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Mo Diame missed the game due to a minor hip problem - but, rather than recall Jonjo Shelvey into the starting XI, Benitez opted to play Ki Sung-yueng in midfield.
Eventually Shelvey did come on with 14 minutes remaining, though the England international failed to influence proceedings, and fans are beginning to question Benitez's reluctance to start the midfielder.
“When you are controlling the game and creating chances, it is not easy to make substitutions," Benitez said of Shelvey, who has not started a Premier League game since early-November.
"Ki came on in the last two games he has done well, coming on, creating chances. Shelvey was a fresh pair of legs and it was not like we were losing the ball. We had control and we wanted to be a little bit better."
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