CHRIS HUGHTON knows a thing or two about the Championship and what is required to climb out of it, but he is convinced Rafael Benitez does too.

A lot has been made of how Benitez has never managed at that level until now, but former Newcastle United boss Hughton found out at his own expense that the Spaniard is learning fast.

Brighton, who were unbeaten in the league since February and narrow losers in the automatic promotion race last season, could not find a way through to avoid defeat at St James’ Park. That meant Hughton, the manager who led Newcastle back to the Premier League in 2010, had to endure a defeat which has left him convinced Benitez knows exactly what he is doing.

There might have been a few doubters after starting the campaign with back-to-back defeats to Fulham and Huddersfield, but Newcastle have won three in a row and kept successive clean sheets (without mentioning the EFL Cup triumph over Cheltenham).

Defensively they look much improved, with Jamaal Lascelles over his early mistakes and linking well with Chancel Mbemba, and goalkeeper Matz Sels actually having a solid game between the posts after a shaky opening few weeks.

In midfield, Jonjo Shelvey displayed his quality to vindicate his inclusion in the middle, where he was given more freedom to push forward to leave Isaac Hayden as the lone sitter. Even forgotten man Yoan Gouffran has shone on the wing to provide greater balance to the side during the last few matches.

Throw in the fact Benitez, who has already signed nine new players since the end of last season, has Daryl Murphy lined up to come in and compete for an attacking spot, and it is going to be hard for teams to stop Newcastle.

“The obvious thing needed to go up is having enough of what you need in this division,” said Hughton, who has taken Brighton and Birmingham to the play-offs as well as taking Newcastle up.

“Burnley were excellent in what they did. They were just very efficient and had players who can score goals. Part of what we saw here, I didn’t think Newcastle were great, but they were very efficient at what they do.

“They’ve got good people, good players on the ball and they also showed they can score from set plays. A lot of what you saw in Newcastle is what’s needed in this division.

“One thing Rafa has, even though he’s never managed at this level in this country, is great experience. His acquisitions this summer, he’s bought players who will be top players in this division, all good types, quality, workmanlike.”

Brighton had started positively but Newcastle found greater confidence in possession after taking the lead quarter of an hour in. When Matt Ritchie floated over a free-kick, Lascelles moved intently towards the ball and powered a terrific header inside the right-hand post of David Stockdale.

After that Newcastle – watched by former Sunderland striker Murphy and Palermo wide-man Archaf Lazaar ahead of their medicals – were willing to try a few different things, highlighted by the way Gouffran almost snapped the bar with a 30-yard thunderbolt after breezing past Anthony Knockaert.

The surprise was that the second goal didn’t arrive before half-time and it required the sending off of Sam Baldock for a second bookable offence ten minutes into the second half before the extra cushion was secured.

After Mohamed Diame had been fouled by Steve Sidwell, Shelvey displayed his deadball quality by curling a sublime free-kick over the wall and into the top left corner of former Darlington shot-stopper Stockdale’s net.

It was effectively job done there and then, with Newcastle happy enough to put faith in their defensive work by keeping out Brighton and claiming the win which lifted them up to fourth.

Benitez said: “We are doing well, but there’s still plenty of room for improvement. We have the break now, we can relax and enjoy it a little bit. We knew it would be tough this season, we knew that there are a lot of teams who are strong physically and the tempo of games is very high.

“But also we have teams like Fulham and Brighton – they are playing good football and you will see different experiences, some teams will play good possession-based football, others who are very physical and direct.”