Rafa Benitez has warned Newcastle they are not a top side yet.
The Spaniard has ordered his players to stay grounded – and avoid relegation first.
The Geordies are riding a wave of optimism after a solid start to the season. But Benitez says he’ll only know in January how the season is shaping up.
In the next few weeks Benitez will also discover whether a takeover bid for the club will be successful which could arm him with extra transfer cash.
United travel to Burnley on Monday night bolstered by “momentum.” But Benitez cautioned: “I’m not going to start saying ‘oh, we’re amazing’.
“People might say now, you haven’t played City, United or Arsenal so it might be different. In January you might be saying to me ‘you’ve lost five games in a row and you are disaster’.
“We will look at it again in January and by then we will have played the top sides and you will be exactly where you are for a reason.”
Benitez is happy with his squad for extracting some good performances and cashing in points when they have been available. But the first aim is to avoid relegation and then push on.
He added: “Our players will have more confidence now because we are doing well. We know that we still have to do things to stay in the Premier League.
“I will not say that is the target because then I would be criticised for a lack of ambition and I want to be as high as possible, but we know that sometimes you can play a couple of games and suddenly everything changes.
“We have to be ready and prepared for that and the only way we can do that is make sure the team are ready for good and bad situations, difficult moments.
“But we are not saying ‘ooh, we have 14 points and we are fine’. No, no.
“What we have to think is that the next game is an opportunity to get three points and if we can get to 20 and so on.
“If you approach the season thinking about having to survive then you will be down there fighting to survive. So you have to approach it trying to be as high as possible in the table.
“I’m not saying that we have to finish 8th, 9th, 10th or whatever, it’s just about going as high as possible and now that we’re in a good position it’s about trying to go higher.”
Benitez says his team can beat anyone on their day – including the top sides, with a visit to Man United looming.
He added: “I want us to compete against every team. We have to be ready to get three points against any team - afterwards maybe a draw is a good result, you never know.
“But the team has to play with confidence because they are well organised and working hard and you can see the level of the other teams. If you do well, why can’t you win?
“We’re positive, we have ambition; we want to keep winning.”