NEWCASTLE UNITED will be assured of a return to the Premier League by beating Preston North End tonight, even if Rafael Benitez has warned supporters not to expect the celebrations to last long.

While Newcastle will be rightly proud to have bounced straight back up at the first attempt, there is also a belief that there should be an acknowledgement of the achievement rather than a lavish promotion party.

Officials at St James’ Park have already requested to the EFL there is nothing over-the-top about the on-pitch presentations, and there is a belief from within that things will be kept to a minimum and pretty low-key when their top two place is guaranteed.

That will be tonight if they can beat Preston on home turf, after Saturday’s defeat for Huddersfield opened the door for Newcastle to finish off the job with two matches spare.

There will be no open-top bus parade around Tyneside, though, with Benitez taking a similar stance to Roy Keane in 2007 when he even knocked back a civic reception after leading Sunderland to the Championship title a year after relegation.

Benitez said: “I don’t know what we mean by a big celebration … but I am sure everyone will be so pleased and so happy because in the last five or six years, there are not many teams who have gone down and straight back up.

“We have to be pleased if we can achieve that. The main thing will be to enjoy, I don’t know how much, but to enjoy. Then after that plan for the future.

“You have to celebrate but maybe you don’t need to do a parade in the city, you can celebrate though and then celebrate for the future.”

Newcastle are six points clear of the play-off zone and can close the seven-point gap to the leaders Brighton by ending the three-match winless run tonight.

Benitez’s career has been full of success stories and leading a team out of the Championship into the Premier League would be a new addition to his CV. Promotion, though, is not something completely new to him, and he is ready for the occasion.

He said: “When you play a final sometimes you have time to be nervous with the tension. You try to do your best, trust yourself.

“I got promoted with Extremadura and it was fine before. I was promoted with Tenerife too and it went to the last game of the season, and we were fighting against Atletico Madrid. Our stadium was full of Atletico Madrid fans. We needed to win because we knew they would win. We were 1-0 up, we had to be calm and do the right things. I have experience of these situations.

“But it doesn’t matter the experience, I was asking questions before. I advise the players to stay calm, but after they go home for 22 hours I don’t see them anymore. It depends on how the players react. 

“You see Brighton, some of the players 37 years old. They have been here three or four years in a row in this situation. That is experience. You have to confront situations and know how to react. 

“I think we have made some mistakes that are a lack of experience. We have done well and we are where we are because we have done a lot of good things. 

“If you have a problem, 94 minutes and have a corner, don’t give them the chance to score. That is experience and sometimes we lack it and that can be the difference in these games.”

Newcastle, who are without Dwight Gayle again through injury tonight, will focus on trying to improve his side’s game management before the start of next season, regardless of whether they seal a Premier League place or in the remaining games with Cardiff and Barnsley.

He said: "You just try to do your job. If I make mistakes, I will try to find out why and then a solution. That's the only thing.

"This week, the first thing was to talk about why we played so well against Leeds and not against Ipswich and try to put into the training sessions these exercises that will help the players play with more confidence.

“I talk with them as a group and sometimes with individuals. Then you talk about what is going on and how they feel. You have feedback from players. Now, the main thing is to be sure that your message is clear and you're actions are clear."

But Benitez, despite the glittering career he has had, accepts he has also made mistakes. What matters, though, is Newcastle are on the brink of achieving what they set out to achieve in August: promotion.

“For sure I’ve made mistakes, sometimes even winning, you are making mistakes,” he said. "Winning, you make mistakes, and losing, for sure, you make more mistakes.

"Leeds, for example, we drew the game and were really, really good. Maybe, one of the best performances of the last two months.

"But if you are in China, you say 'Newcastle drew'. That's it. Nobody knows about the performance. If we win the next three games, everyone will say 'oh, fantastic'. If we lose the next three games and still go up, will someone remember that we lost them? No chance. We have to keep going.”