Newcastle United forward Ayoze Perez believes confidence has grown ahead of their huge clash with Huddersfield Town on Saturday and insisted that the Magpies are fully focused on their difficult trip to Yorkshire.

Rafael Benitez's men kick-started their promotion-defining week win a late with at Brighton and Hove Albion on Tuesday to regain top spot after substitute Perez fired in a late winner.

And after coming from behind to win for the first time this season against the side who haven't lost when scoring first, Perez has said that the confidence of his Magpies team-mates has grown.

Though, Perez also said that Newcastle are not getting ahead of themselves despite their stunning comeback on the South Coast as a trip to automatic promotion-chasing Huddersfield is less than a day away. A victory would see the Toon Army open up an 11-point gap on third place.

A tough Terriers test

Ahead of his side's trip to the John Smith's Stadium, Perez revealed that confidence in the Newcastle camp "has grown even more" after a thrilling win at Brighton.

Benitez' side are unbeaten in nine league games, where the 23-year-old himself has contributed strongly of late with two goals in four games. But Perez told how he and his teammates still "have done nothing."

Huddersfield, who have impressively only lost one in their 15 Championship fixtures, winning 11, have surprised everyone with their current league position under boss David Wagner.

But the Terriers are there on merit, which Perez stated would be a tough game. “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." He said accordingly.

Using mentality gained from Brighton comeback

Following their comeback at Brighton on Tuesday night, Perez believes that "the way they approached" the Seagulls game, was "did properly" and the forward wants "the same with the next two fixtures."

“There are 90 minutes to play, you can start losing, but if your mentality is stronger then you can win it," Perez said as he identified mentality as a key for the upcoming encounters.

“We were better than Brighton in that way, and that’s why we won - so we need to do it again. It means a lot for ourselves,” the 23-year-old added.

After Brighton took the lead early on from a Glen Murray penalty, Perez believed that the hosts "were better" in the opening exchanges.

But as Christian Atsu hit a great opportunity to equalise straight at David Stockdale, the attacking intent that was shown at the end of the first-half give Perez and his teammates belief that they could get something from the game as the second period approached.

"We knew we could still get something out of the game and win it." said Perez, who slotted home the winner shortly after Mohammed Diame's bizarre flick found its way into the net.

“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.” Perez finished.

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About the author
Jordan Cronin
Sports Journalist. Editor/ Writer for the Newcastle United office.