This was the night Newcastle United soared to fourth place. The night Geordies sang about Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Lazio and Roma. The night the Magpies recorded a ninth successive win.

Yet it said it all that players and staff alike recognised that Newcastle can play even better following a 3-0 win against Wolves at St James' Park. Such are the standards right now. Standards that have helped drive a huge swing in results.

For context, on December 16, Newcastle were 11 points behind Chelsea. Now, exactly a month later, the black-and-whites are a point clear of the faltering Blues. No wonder history maker Alexander Isak was the first to admit: "We want to grab points and for other teams to drop points. That's good for us."

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However, by the same token, this Newcastle side do not obsess over other teams' results or base their game on what happens hundreds of miles away at Stamford Bridge. The black-and-whites have just focused on taking care of their own business. That approach is clearly working for Howe's team.

"We're on a good run and we want to carry that run on," the Newcastle boss told reporters after being asked if his side relished being hunters. "We go into every game just trying to win and trying to prepare as well as we can. However we are perceived is up to other people."

Howe, in trademark fashion, was already looking ahead to the visit of Bournemouth and how Newcastle have to be even better on Saturday. That relentless desire to improve should worry those teams who are hoping that this run comes to an end, particularly after the hosts showed another side to their game on Wednesday night.

After all, it is one thing winning at Old Trafford, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium or the Emirates; it is quite another to break down a dogged Wolves side on home turf. Wolves may be in the relegation zone, but Vitor Pereira has got the Old Gold fighting again and Newcastle had to battle at St James' Park on Wednesday night - and they did.

Newcastle won 57 duels and 11 tackles, and made 16 clearances - significantly more than the visitors on all three counts. At one point, Joelinton even roared in delight at the Milburn Stand after clattering Rodrigo Gomes by the touchline.

It was not just competitive on the field, either. The Wolves bench were already incensed after nothing was given after Dan Burn got in a tangle with Goncalo Guedes midway through the first half. Jason Tindall only angered Wolves staff further when the Newcastle assistant then crossed over and burst past the visitors' technical area to retrieve the ball for Lewis Hall to take a throw-in. That was the trigger for a number of Pereira's backroom team to charge out of their seats.

At that stage, the game was goalless and for all the possession Newcastle enjoyed, the Magpies had to be patient. Jacob Murphy twice stung Jose Sa's gloves. Anthony Gordon was denied by a last-ditch tackle by Emmanuel Agbadou. Even Alexander Isak fired wide.

However, Newcastle eventually broke through in the 34th minute. Isak was a long way from goal out on the left, but wary Wolves defenders backed off, allowing the lethal Newcastle striker to cut inside and carry the ball to the edge of the area. Although Isak's attempted pass to Anthony Gordon was blocked, the ball ricocheted back to the Sweden star and he wriggled away from the sliding Joao Gomes before letting fly from the edge of the area. Isak's effort took a huge deflection off Rayan Ait Nouri's leg and Jose Sa could only watch as the ball nestled in the net. Isak, in the process, became the first Newcastle player to score in eight successive Premier League games.

Wolves were far from out of this, though, and Newcastle were sent a reminder of that just before half-time. A punt forward sent Rodrigo Gomes galloping past Lewis Hall down the right and the wing-back cut the ball back across to Jorgen Strand Larsen, whose first-time effort struck the outside of the post.

Newcastle needed another goal and the Magpies doubled their lead just a few minutes into the second half. Bruno Guimaraes picked up the ball just outside the box and, despite being surrounded by three gold shirts, the Newcastle captain masterfully threaded it through to Isak. The 25-year-old took a deft touch inside the box before sitting Sa down with an ice-cold finish.

Newcastle were not finished yet, however. There was little more than a quarter of an hour left to play when Joelinton sent Isak racing through. Rather than going for a hat-trick from a tight angle, the striker unselfishly attempted to pick out a team-mate only for his cross to be blocked by a sliding Matt Doherty. Isak did not give up - not in this sort of form - and the striker recovered the ball and ran at the Wolves captain again. This time, Isak managed to cut the ball across to Gordon, who lashed home to make it 3-0.

That was the cue for Howe to make a flurry of changes with Saturday's early kick-off very much in mind. Off came Isak, Murphy, Joelinton, Gordon and Livramento as spirited Wolves pushed for a consolation. There was still time for Santiago Bueno to have a goal disallowed for handball and for Martin Dubravka to rush out and block Larsen's shot onto the crossbar, but Newcastle held firm. They now have a club-record 10th straight win in their sights.