Newcastle's Premier League adventure has become a dour slog while Brighton continue to enjoy life in the top flight

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For Brighton, this still feels like an adventure. At Newcastle, it is turning into a slog.

Promoted together in May when they were separated by just one point, they remain a yardstick for one another.

Brighton have progressed, albeit slightly. Newcastle have not. Shane Duffy, the outstanding Brighton defender, let as much slip when he came to reflect on this dour draw, which keeps his side three points and four places better off.

Newcastle's top-flight adventure is becoming a slog after failing to win again at the weekend

'You look at their team and it was basically the Championship side from last year,' he said.

And he was absolutely right. The XI who finished for Newcastle were all playing in the second-tier last season. That is where they are probably headed again without intervention in the form of new faces this month.

They face Stoke on Monday in another match it is said they must win. But then that was said about Saturday's game, as well as the home fixtures against Everton, Leicester, Watford and Bournemouth, all of which they lost.

Of Newcastle's 19 points, 18 of those have come against teams in the bottom half, evidence enough that they are indeed a Championship side scraping by in the top flight.

Their players are no longer smiling. Supporters used to sing of Matt Ritchie that he wore a magic hat, now he wears a permanent frown and his mood was not helped when he was first man hooked by Rafa Benitez on Saturday.

It will be hard for Rafa Benitez to keep them up with virtually the same squad as last season

The manager knows the enjoyment is beginning to drain from their season.

'You see sometimes the anxiety when you miss a ball or do a bad pass,' said Benitez.

'That is something we have to improve if we want to have more chances against these teams.'

Newcastle midfielder Isaac Hayden attempted to provide some context to their current situation.

'If you asked anyone connected with the club on January 1 of this year (2017) that we'd be standing here at the end of the year, in the position we're in, everyone would have bitten your hand off,' he said.

Isaac Hayden remains positive and believes Newcastle's young squad will learn and get better

'We've seen how difficult it is to get out of the Championship for the teams that have been relegated this season, with Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Hull.

'But we did that and then we had a good start to the season. Yes, we've had a couple of bad months, but we're a young group and we're still learning and getting better.'

Brighton - who entertain Bournemouth Monday lunchtime - are a far better bet to survive, especially given the form of centre-backs Duffy and Lewis Dunk, for whom this was an eighth clean sheet of the season.

Manager Chris Hughton said: 'They have been fantastic. The two of them have been singled out and rightly so.'

Hughton and his players celebrated this point with their fans at the end of the game. They were smiling, unlike their hosts. 

But for Brighton, who were promoted with them last season, things are going much better