Rafa Benitez was happy to deliver an early Christmas present to Newcastle United fans after keeping them at the top of the league.
But he insisted he hoped it wouldn’t be the last gift he hands out to the Geordie faithful this season.
After the game Benitez said: “You know I’d prefer to be top of the table in May, but it is a good time for the fans so I wish everyone a Merry Christmas. We are in a good position.
“Now we can enjoy our time with the families. We also have time to prepare because we don’t have so many games during this month.
“Wigan was another test, a different one. This (Burton) was even harder and we did well.
“We saw players working as hard as they did and tried to compete in the air.
“They held the ball, competed in the air, played counter attack and defended.
“We have played that are learning how to perform in this division and this is really important for any team.”
Newcastle will run checks on Jack Colback and Scotland international Grant Hanley over the next few days to see if they’re fit to face Sheffield Wednesday on Boxing Day.
However, Benitez will see if anybody has suffered any damage on Monday after the battle against Burton.
He said: “Now we can wait. After games like this you’ll get knocks.
“They have two days off and they can enjoy them. We will check on Monday if everybody is fine.”