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Another weekend, another Newcastle United win - get in you beauty!

This season has been so refreshing in many ways, and particularly because we can now look forward to every single match.

There is genuine excitement on Tyneside, and an expectancy that the Magpies are going to win every game.

At Elland Road, Newcastle were so, so comfortable. Yes, they got a little lucky with the first goal, but the Magpies rarely looked troubled against one of the Championship’s in-form sides.

I remember how intimidating an environment a packed-out Elland Road can be from my playing days, yet Newcastle dealt with all that and Leeds United simply couldn’t get near Rafa Benitez’s men.

It’s now nine wins in a row and the Magpies are closing in on a club record for successive victories. Against Blackburn Rovers at St James’ Park, I very much expect them to get it.

I’m beginning to sound like a parrot because I’ve said it so many times, but I just think Newcastle are a cut above the rest of this league.

The only thing I can see stopping the Magpies is if complacency sets in; there won’t be anxiety, because they’ve already given themselves a decent cushion at the top of the table.

Under Rafa though, I don’t see complacency being an issue. He always strives for perfection and he won’t rest until the job is done.

My challenge to Newcastle now is to really turn the screw over the course of the next month and hammer home their advantage.

With the fixtures they have been between now and Christmas, I think the Magpies can make that nine-point gap to third even larger.

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Given the size of the squad and the options Benitez has at his disposal, it’s the perfect time to make that tell over the festive period and put daylight between themselves and the rest of this league.

I’m so confident in this group that I might be getting on to my bookmaker before the start of 2017 to ask them to pay out early on Newcastle winning the league!

One debate I find interesting is whereabouts this Magpies team ranks in terms of the great second-tier Newcastle sides though.

I played under Kevin Keegan when we went on that 13-game league winning run in 1992 and that side was exciting going forward.

We had the likes of Lee Clark, Scott Sellars, David Kelly, Rob Lee and myself; basically the whole team were capable of scoring goals.

It was a bit of a gung-ho approach, but it was extremely effective.

Then you have Chris Hughton’s 2009/10 Championship-winning team. I remember the season before when they got relegated, those players looked sluggish and overweight.

But in the second tier the following year they were fit and ruthless. Kevin Nolan, Andy Carroll and Alan Smith battered the rest of the league into submission.

That side broke the 100-point mark for the season as well, which is no mean feat.

But then I look at Rafa’s current team and they can score goals, keep clean sheets and dominate games.

Of the three sides, I think this current crop of Magpies is the best at controlling games. They never looked in danger against Leeds.

And I still think there’s more to come from them. Newcastle haven’t even hit top form yet.

Once they do, I really think someone could be hit for seven or eight - I think they’re that much better than the rest of the team in this division.

Now’s the time for Newcastle to hammer home that superiority and really turn the screw.

A good points return over the next month, and I think we’ll all be virtually able to raise a glass toasting promotion by Christmas time.