Rafa Benitez warned Newcastle's promotion rivals that his side can still improve following a routine 3-1 win over Brentford which put them second in the Sky Bet Championship.
The Spaniard had urged his players to make a quick start in his programme notes and they did not let him down in front of a bumper crowd of 51,885 - Ciaran Clark heading an 11th-minute opener before Dwight Gayle doubled the hosts' advantage five minutes later.
Gayle completed his brace four minutes after half-time and although Brentford quickly pulled one back through Scott Hogan, a comeback was never on the cards.
"I'm pleased because after the international break it's not easy," said Benitez, whose side have now won eight of their last 10 league games.
"We did everything we wanted to do - we controlled the game and had good chances.
"I'm not watching the table because it's too soon. I said the other day I was convinced we could improve; I'm pleased but we can still improve."
Jonjo Shelvey had a hand in all three goals and Gayle's brace took his tally to nine in 10 games for the Magpies, making him the division's top scorer in the process.
Benitez was pleased with both players for stamping their authority on the match.
"The team is doing a lot of good things and we have a striker who is confident in front of goal and scoring," he added.
On Shelvey he continued: "He's doing well; he has confidence, he has the quality. He controlled the game."
It was Brentford who carved out the first opportunity of note in the ninth minute when Maxime Colin's cross from the right found Hogan in acres of space but the striker headed high and wide.
Newcastle broke the opened the scoring just two minutes later, however, when Shelvey's deep cross found Clark unmarked and the Republic of Ireland centre-back headed home from six yards.
Shelvey was also at the heart of the home side's second goal as the Brentford defence failed to deal with his searching ball over the top and Gayle found some space before rifling in a low effort from 12 yards.
When Gayle tapped in from Shelvey's low cross following a neat move down the left it looked like the game was up, but Brentford responded immediately as Hogan netted his eighth of the season from close range after Newcastle failed to deal with a corner.
Shelvey spurned a chance to register the goal his performance deserved when he curled a 74th-minute free-kick over the bar and Gayle was denied a hat-trick when Daniel Bentley kept out his long-range effort late on.