AYOZE PEREZ thinks Newcastle United’s dramatic win at Brighton has provided the perfect reminder of an impressive away record ahead of two further important trips in the battle for Premier League football.

Victory at the Amex Stadium on Monday night was the Magpies’ 12th success on their travels this season; one more than they have recorded at St James’ Park.

The total is also considerably better than every other team in the division, with Brighton and Huddersfield – in second and third – boasting the next best of eight wins.

The away form bodes well ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Huddersfield Town, well beaten by Manchester City in the FA Cup on Wednesday night, and at Reading on Tuesday when they will face another side hoping for top-flight football in August.

Perez said: "The confidence has grown even more, we are doing really well away from home. But still we have done nothing.

"We have to focus on Huddersfield, which is going to be another tough game, and we have to go into it with the same mentality.

"The way we approached the Brighton game, we did it properly. We have to do the same with the next two matches.

"There are 90 minutes to play, you can start losing, but if your mentality is stronger you can win it. We were better than Brighton in that way, and that's why we won - so we need to do it again.”

Despite criticism of Newcastle’s form before the trip to Brighton, Rafael Benitez’s side have gone ten league matches without defeat; dating back to the harsh loss at Blackburn on January 2.

The run has lifted Newcastle two points clear at the top and has been achieved by Benitez regularly changing the team around, with Perez scoring the late winner when he was introduced as a substitute on the south coast.

"It means a lot for ourselves,” said Perez. “We went 1-0 down at Brighton, they were pushing and were better than us early on, but the way we finished the first half, we knew we could still get something out of the game and win it. And we did it.

"It's not easy to be able to have every single player ready for when the chance comes. But we are all in the same way, doing a good job and we're ready for our chance.”

Perez has scored nine goals this season; when he has found the net Newcastle have not lost. This term’s total has taken his tally to 22 goals since moving from Tenerife in the summer of 2014, but his latest was one of his most memorable.

He said: "It was a massive win for us, an important goal at the end. We got the three points which are really, really important because they put us back at the top.

"It must be one of the most important goals that I've scored for Newcastle. I'm really happy to be the one, but the most important thing is the three points.

"We knew that game would be really tough, they were playing at home, a great team, but we knew we could win it."

Attentions turn to the trip to Huddersfield tomorrow, with the Terriers desperate to turn in the sort of display which has lifted them into third after a frustrating 5-1 defeat at Manchester City.

Boss David Wagner, who fielded a weakened team at the Etihad, is convinced the sell-out crowd at the John Smith’s Stadium will make for a special occasion – and make things difficult for Newcastle.

Wagner said: “You have to be very aggressive against such a strong opponent (as Manchester City) and what we will show on Saturday is a different level when we play at home in our fortress, in a very important game in the Championship.

“Very quickly we will go forward and I have no question that the supporters will create an atmosphere that will be the best we have ever seen at the John Smith’s Stadium and this is exactly what we need to play against a top of the table Newcastle United. We have to create something special all together.”