THEY might have enjoyed a successful week on their travels, but Jamaal Lascelles is desperate to see Newcastle United making the most of some home comforts when they return to St James’ Park tomorrow.

A seven-day spell that featured matches at Brighton, Huddersfield and Reading ended with the Magpies celebrating a seven-point haul that left them three points clear of second-placed Brighton and nine points ahead of Huddersfield, who currently occupy the first of the play-off places.

Rafael Benitez’s side need just one more away success to pull clear of Kevin Keegan’s title winners from 1992-93 and establish a new club record for league away wins, but their home form has not quite matched the standards they have been setting on the road.

With four defeats from their 17 home games, Newcastle are only seventh in the Championship’s home table, with Brighton having claimed seven more points at the Amex Stadium than the Magpies have mustered at St James’ Park.

The club’s last home outing was a disappointment, with lowly Bristol City leaving Tyneside with a 2-2 draw, and Lascelles is demanding a marked improvement when Fulham visit Gallowgate tomorrow.

“We need to put things right at St James’ Park because in our last home game we didn’t start too well,” said the Newcastle skipper. “So against Fulham I want us to start well and get on the front foot early on.

“We’re very positive we can extend our unbeaten run, but it’s about time we sorted out our home form and started really kicking on at St James’ Park.

“We owe Fulham one as well (after losing at Craven Cottage in the opening game of the season). Every game is massive for us, and all we’re looking for is the three points. Hopefully that’s what we can deliver.”

Lascelles’ performances were a key factor as Newcastle cemented their position at the top of the table last week, with the centre-half turning in a man-of-the-match display at Huddersfield before proving equally effective in Tuesday’s goalless draw at Reading.

Since suffering an attack of the jitters in last month’s 2-2 draw at Norwich, Lascelles has rediscovered his best form, and his partnership with Ciaran Clark is likely to remain one of the Magpies’ biggest strengths in the final two months of the season.

The pair helped secure a 15th clean sheet of the campaign on Tuesday, and while Newcastle were unable to penetrate the Reading defence at the other end, a draw was still a decent way to round off a satisfactory seven days.

“If somebody had said to us before the three away games, 'Would you take seven points', we’d have grabbed their hands off,” said Lascelles. “All three teams are tough sides, and they’re all looking for promotion - the same as us.

“It was a big week because it wasn’t just a case of getting three points – it was a case of taking three points off other sides as well and creating that gap. We want that gap, we want to keep it and increase it. Every game’s a cup final and we’re not going to take our foot off the gas at all.”

When Newcastle lost at Fulham in their opening game, they started slowly and failed to generate any momentum after falling behind on the stroke of half-time.

They also failed to get out of the blocks in their most recent home game against Bristol City, conceding two goals in the opening 21 minutes, and with Fulham travelling to Tyneside having lost just one of their last eight league games, it will be important to gain the upper hand from the off tomorrow.

“We always say we need to start the game brightly, and let the other team know we’re not here to mess about,” said Lascelles. “Then, we outwork the other teams.

“It’s about putting the ball in the back of the net, and teams find it difficult to do that against us. We had a few chances in the last game (at Reading) and obviously we didn’t put them away, but I’m sure we'll have another good game plan for Fulham.”

Meanwhile, Aleksandar Mitrovic has been named in the Serbia squad for this month’s World Cup qualifier with Georgia. The striker has retained his place for the game on March 24 despite having been omitted from Benitez’s last two Newcastle squads.

Tim Krul, who is spending the second half of the season on loan at AZ Alkmaar, has been named in the provisional Holland squad to face Bulgaria and Italy.