Jonjo Shelvey wasasked where he thought Newcastle would finish this season in the Championship.
"We had set out from as soon as we got back from pre-season that we want to be finishing first," he said.
"We don’t want to finish second, we want to finish first and that is our aim and it looks like we are on course to do that.
"It is going to be tough but we have just got to keep winning and keep grinding out.
"It doesn't matter how you win, whether it is dogged performances or playing like Barcelona, as long as we are putting those three points on the board."