The head coach saw the Blues dominate the second period at St James’ Park. Despite being a man light, we came close to equalising on three separate occasions, Marc Cucurella, Enzo Fernandez and Reece James all going close.

Unfortunately we were not rewarded with what would have been a deserved equaliser, leaving Maresca to reflect on a result that makes our last two league games must-win.

‘In this stadium against this team it’s already complicated, and if you give them one extra player it’s even more difficult,’ said Maresca.

‘The red card affected the game, no doubt, but we had three big chances in the second half, which is not easy with ten men. We are not happy with the defeat but the energy, the spirit and the togetherness of the team in the second half has been fantastic. It’s something I feel proud of.

'Second half we adjusted some things and it went quite well. We even looked like we had more players than them. We need to keep the same energy, the same effort and focus on Friday’s game.

‘Now my feeling is you need to win both games [to qualify for the Champions League],' Maresca added.

Nicolas Jackson was sent off for serious foul play after VAR recommended an on-field check. The red card rules him out of our games against Manchester United and Nottingham Forest.

‘I didn’t speak to Nico, it’s not the moment. We will speak in the next day. No doubt he has to learn from it, especially at this stage of the season where we have two more games. You have to avoid this kind of thing. You need all your squad available. It happened, and he will be out. Hopefully he can learn for the future.

‘He is our nine, the other one is Marc Guiu who has been injured for three months and is close to being back. We need to find a different solution for the last two games that are important.’