A GOOD point at Chelsea at the end of a good season for Newcastle United, yet even a rare league draw at Stamford Bridge will not distract anyone for long from the challenges ahead.

Success can often only be accurately measured by what would represent failure, and if relegation was the fear which stalked the Magpies all season then survival is more than just reassuring.

To have stayed out of the bottom three all season on their return to the Premier League is a triumph for the Magpies and both Alan Pardew – and Chris Hughton before him – deserve a lot of credit for that.

However, this is no time to rest on laurels.

The landscaping is constantly shifting in the Premier League and expectations with it.

Having kept their heads above water, Newcastle will be expected to swim far more easily next time.

Recovered from the disaster of relegation, repairing the damage done to the club’s reputation and psyche through hardwork and team spirit, first in the Championship and now back in the Premier League, Newcastle need to maintain that progression.

With £35m from the sale of Andy Carroll still to be spent this summer – arguably there should be more given that was extra profit from the unplanned sale of a star striker – improvements are not only anticipated they are expected, even demanded.

Attention has already focused on squad restructuring, although there is no sign of any imminent arrivals and the contract talks with Joey Barton, Jose Enrique and Kevin Nolan are just as important at this stage of Newcastle’s development.

According to Pardew last week, there have been no breakthroughs in the last few weeks.

That improvements need to be made, however, there is no doubt. Newcastle are spirited but, ultimately limited. Not just in terms of ability and individuals, but also in terms of squad size and strength in depth.

It did not take a trip to Stamford Bridge to tell anyone that, although they emerged from their last away trip of the campaign with plenty to be proud of.

It was a vast improvement on their previous performance on the road at Liverpool, and was done without either Nolan or Cheik Tiote in the centre of midfield.

Chelsea took the lead with their first corner at the end of their first attack, Fernando Torres given a free header at the near post as he met Frank Lampard’s centre and Branislav Ivanovic bundling the ball into the net.

That would normally signal the start of a collapse in west London, but Newcastle have shown resilience when they need to and they were level just eight minutes later, albeit in fortunate fashion.