Newcastle United boss Rafa Benitez was asked:
"Has the season gone to plan so far? Did you expect to be in a better position?"
Everybody was talking before the start of the season about the difficulty of this division. So I’m happy with our position, especially if you consider in the last five years many of the teams that have been relegated couldn’t go up in their first season in the Championship.
It is true that we have dropped points in some games we had hoped to win but we are at the top of the league at the moment, and we have been there for much of the season.
That is where we were aiming to be, so we are on target. We all need to keep our composure and stay confident.