YOHAN Cabaye admits his Newcastle United team-mates have to learn some important lessons from this season's surprise relegation scrap, after conceding he found it difficult to come to terms with an increasingly desperate battle against the drop.

The Magpies secured their Premier League status with a game to spare when they claimed a crucial 2-1 win at QPR on Sunday, but there was little in the way of celebration after the final whistle at Loftus Road.

Having finished last season in fifth position, Newcastle find themselves lying 13th ahead of the final-day visit of Arsenal, and even if they beat the Gunners, their final points tally will be 21 fewer than it was last term.

It has been a largely calamitous campaign, and while there is a shared sense of relief that the worst-case scenario of relegation has been avoided, Cabaye insists it would be wrong to simply draw a line under the season and ignore the mistakes that were made.

“It would be a mistake if we forgot everything that has happened in this season,” said the Magpies midfielder. “We have to learn from what has happened and make sure we do not allow it to repeat in the future.

“It has been very hard, but it has given us experience and we have to use that. It is very difficult to fight against relegation and no one wants to be in that position again.

“We are satisfied we are safe, but we are not proud of what has happened. We have to prepare well for the last game now because Arsenal are trying to get into the Champions League and we want to finish well in front of our fans.

“Then we will have our holidays and have a big rest and try to get refreshed. We have to prepare well for next season because we cannot have another season like this one. We know we are capable of much better. We have a good team.”

In many ways, Cabaye's personal fortunes have been symptomatic of Newcastle's general malaise in the last nine months.

The France international started the campaign reasonably strongly, but his form tailed off alarmingly after he returned from a lengthy injury lay-off at the start of January and his performances in the last three months have rarely reached the standards of which he is capable.

In part, he attributes his struggles to the pressures of a relegation battle that few foresaw in the early weeks of the campaign. As a former French double winner, Cabaye had no previous experience of fighting against the drop, and he admits he found it hard to handle the mounting tension and criticism.

“It was the first time I was fighting against relegation in my career, and I have learned a lot,” he said. “It is not easy, but I have learned new things about myself and the way I play football.

“Every game we played when we lost, we went down in the table, and you have to be able to deal with that and the pressure it brings. We were watching the number of games that were left go down, and I think we were all getting a bit nervous.

“I was thinking about that more and more, and that probably wasn't good. It's a very good feeling to know that is all over now. I am sure everyone feels the same, but we have to learn from this season to make sure next season is better.

“Maybe without the Europa League we are going to be more fit, although that is not an excuse. We were in trouble all season, but we have to enjoy the fact we are now safe.”

The next few months will see sustained speculation about a number of Newcastle players, with Cabaye's own future likely to be debated after he was linked with top-flight clubs in both France and England.

Fabricio Coloccini is expected to return to his native Argentina, while Hatem Ben Arfa continues to be the subject of strong interest from Paris St Germain.

It will be interesting to see what the squad looks like when next season begins, although whatever happens this summer, there will still be a strong French core to the Magpies' line up.

Cabaye has repeatedly denied suggestions of a split in the camp, although he concedes the five January arrivals will find it much easier to succeed next season with a full period of pre-season training under their belt.

“The new French players will have more time to prepare in the pre-season and that is important,” he said. “That will help all of us because next season, they will have had more experience in the Premier League.

“It's very difficult to adapt quickly, especially if you're moving in January. It was a new league for those players, and a new type of football. We will have more time to prepare now. Hopefully, we will have a good pre-season, a tough pre-season that will make sure we are fit for next year. I think we have good quality in the team, and we can certainly be much higher in the league table.”