DWIGHT GAYLE is confident his hamstring problems are finally behind him, and is desperate to finish the season as the Championship’s leading goalscorer.

Gayle has suffered a frustrating couple of months as a recurring hamstring problem has restricted his involvement, but he made only his third start since mid-January on Saturday and scored Newcastle’s opening goal in their 2-1 win over Wigan.

The goal was his 22nd in the Championship this season, but having spent the majority of the campaign at the top of the goalscoring charts, the 26-year-old now finds himself two goals behind Leeds United’s Chris Wood, who has been in explosive form since the turn of the year.

Gayle’s first priority is to help ensure Newcastle claim automatic promotion, with the weekend’s results having left them ten points clear of third-placed Huddersfield Town ahead of tomorrow night’s game with Burton Albion.

However, on a personal note, he is also determined to pip Wood to the Championship’s Golden Boot award, even if that might mean having to score five or six goals in the final seven games of the season.

“There is no point in downplaying it, I want to win (the race to the top scorer),” said Gayle, who is expected to retain his place in tomorrow’s starting line-up. “I go into every game wanting to score, and hopefully I can get a few more.

“Hopefully, the rest of the race is interesting. I set myself a target of 20 at the start of the season, and I have reached that. Now, I have to try score as many as I can to help the team out.”

Gayle was in prolific form prior to suffering hamstring damage in January’s 2-1 win at Brentford, and looked much more like his old self as he casually converted Newcastle’s opener at the weekend.

His recovery turned out to be a protracted affair, with Rafael Benitez suggesting the issue was as much a mental one as a physical condition given Gayle’s previous record of hamstring complaints.

Clearly, the striker needs to feel comfortable that he is not going to suffer another breakdown, and having had a full two weeks of training during the international break, he readily admits he is now much more confident in the state of his body.

Daryl Murphy and Aleksandar Mitrovic slotted in reasonably effectively during his absence, but Benitez will be understandably relieved to be able to call on the services of his leading scorer for the crucial final games.

Not only is Gayle the best finisher on Newcastle’s books, he also enables the rest of the team to be able to play in their preferred style, looking to release him beyond the last defender.

“I have been injured and in and out of the team for the last few months now,” said the striker. “For me, it was nice to get back playing (against Wigan) and scoring a goal. Hopefully, now I can get back to playing well and repay the team before the end of the season.

“When it comes to hamstring (injuries), you have to get it right. For me, personally, you have to go out there and forget about it. If it goes, it’s not the best, but you just have to try your best out there. Hopefully, now I have overcome it. I want to play for the rest of the season and score more goals.”

Gayle’s next chance to find the target will come against a Burton side who will kick-off at St James’ Park four points clear of the relegation zone.

Nigel Clough’s side have been battling against the drop all season, but proved their mettle when they claimed a stoppage-time winner at Huddersfield last weekend and also ran Newcastle close before slipping to a 2-1 defeat at the Pirelli Stadium in December.

“We know that playing them away was one of the toughest games we’ve played,” said Gayle. “I remember their two strikers were powerful. They caused us trouble, as well as being very resilient in defence.

“When we went there and won 2-1, it was a brilliant result. We know they will come here with everything to play for, and will give us a tough game.”

Newcastle’s Under-23 team crashed out of the Premier League Cup at the quarter-final stage yesterday as they suffered a 1-0 home defeat to Reading.

Andriya Novakovich scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot after Newcastle’s Luke Charman was adjudged to have committed a foul in the area.

The Magpies’ best chance of equalising came to nothing with seven minutes left as Tom Heardman failed to find the target following an intelligent pull-back from Charman.

Newcastle Under-23s: Harker, Williams (El-Mhanni 73), Good (Newberry 49), Findlay, Gibson, Hunter, Barlaser, Holmes, Charman, Wilson (Fernandez 88), Heardman.