The Magpies climbed to fifth place in the table as a result of their shock 1-0 win at Arsenal on Sunday as they collected a third successive three-point haul. They entertain Blackburn on Wednesday evening knowing an extension of that run would keep them healthily placed as they attempt to ensure their continued presence in the top flight. With fellow promoted sides West Brom and Blackpool also making a fist of life among the big boys, boss Hughton admits the newcomers have raised a few eyebrows, although he is well aware that the likes of Hull and Burnley have done much the same in the recent past, but been unable to sustain their early-season form. Asked if Newcastle have surprised a few people, he said: "Yes - and I think that would probably be the same for all three teams who got promotion. "It is tough when you come into this division having been out of it and the expectations on all three teams are that you will work your way into the division and learn about the division and hopefully get stronger as it goes on. "That's very much how the division is. There are some real surprise results - us going to the Emirates would be a surprise result, West Brom going there certainly would be and Blackpool, the results they have got. "Generally, things will settle down after a while and find their normal course, but at this moment, there are surprises to be had. "We weren't sure what to expect, apart from knowing there would be ups and downs, that there would be periods where we would lose two or three or four games on the spin and it would be about picking up the team. "But we are still very early in the season and what we can't afford to do is get carried away with the form we are in at the moment, which we are delighted with. "As we keep saying, we know how difficult this Premier League is, and there will be down periods and there will be spells where we are losing games. "But it is about picking ourselves up and having the confidence that we can get points in this division." Hughton's men certainly have experienced both the peaks and troughs of Premier League football inside their opening 11 fixtures. A 6-0 demolition of Aston Villa in their opening home game and a glorious 5-1 derby rout of Sunderland have lit up St James' Park, while wins at Everton, West Ham and Arsenal have demonstrated remarkable poise and resilience for a side which plummeted into the Football League at the end of the 2008-09 season. However, things have not always gone to plan on Tyneside with Blackpool and Stoke having left with all three points and Wigan coming within seconds of doing the same until Fabricio Coloccini's injury-time equaliser denied them. Hughton said: "We knew it was something we had to address before the Sunderland game. "We started with a home game against Aston Villa and perhaps we raised the bar so high that it was always going to be difficult after that. "But what we have found is that teams have come to St James' with a gameplan, at times sat a little bit deeper and made life difficult for us. "But these are the things you have to overcome. We were delighted to get the Sunderland result and that addressed some of the problems we felt we had at home. "It is about now taking it on to the next stage."
