But it didn't always look that way.

With the game goalless and going nowhere, it was tossed into the goalmouth from the away end unbeknown to Preston North End goalkeeper Andy Lonergan, who was stood off his line.

The fourth official, however, whipped the ball away before there was a Darren Bent-style incident.

But they needed some inspiration, as Lonergan hadn't had a save to make up to Kevin Nolan's 74th-minute intervention, his goal earning Newcastle a fourth successive win, and sending them back to the top of the Championship.

A solitary goal – as it has been on United's previous three Monday night outings – was enough.

Newcastle had seen West Bromwich Albion – the division's top scorers – go top on Saturday after steamrollering Bristol City at The Hawthorns.

Chris Hughton's side might lack something going forward at times, but what they don't lack is spirit, and that was evident in abundance at Deepdale, where it was as much about fight as free-flowing football.

That quality is needed more than anything in English football's second tier, and on this evidence, United, while not the league's best footballing team, will be there or thereabouts at the end of the season, and given everything that's gone on in recent months, that's some achievement.

And with two home games coming up, who says Newcastle can't make it six in a row?

Still, the fourth game of their winning sequence didn't start too well, as neither side could hit the target, and Lonergan and Steve Harper hardly had a save to make.

Jonas Gutierrez – who had opened his account in stunning style in United's last game – had left his shooting boots at home, something underlined late in the second half, and no one else could trouble Lonergan.

The half's only real drama came after the whistle as the players filed down to the tunnel, Preston's players seemingly unhappy at a Marlon Harewood challenge late in the half.

Harewood was the player Newcastle's travelling fans seemingly wanted to be withdrawn in the second half, but Andy Carroll – struggling with an illness – made way.

In any case, Nile Ranger livened up Hughton's attack after his introduction on the hour mark.

Hughton, clearly, sees Ranger as an impact player to come off the bench, and while he didn't have a direct hand in the goal, he opened up the game for United with his non-stop running.

As for the goal, it was a moment of Premier League composure, and in the Championship, those flashes of class win games. Danny Guthrie's ball fell to Nolan, who angled his body and shot across Lonergan with his left foot for his ninth goal of the season.

Gutierrez should have made it 2-0, but that didn't matter.

Graeme Souness always wanted a team that could win 1-0, believing it was the sign of a successful team, and Hughton seemingly has one on his hands.