The Magpies stretched their advantage over third-placed Nottingham Forest to 12 points with a game in hand as a result of Wednesday night's 3-0 victory over Scunthorpe.

They head for managerless Bristol City this evening knowing another win would further strengthen their grip at the top of the table ahead of Tuesday night's trip to Doncaster and then a potentially huge showdown with Forest at St James' Park on March 29.

Hughton said: "The Forest game will, of course, be a very big game for the obvious reasons.

"It's not the most important game because the most important thing is the results we get, whether that be at home to Forest or at home to Blackpool or away to QPR in the last game of the season.

"It is about getting enough good results in these last 10 games we have.

"But of course, the quicker we can get good results, the better it will be for us."

Hughton could be without joint-leading scorer Peter Lovenkrands at Ashton Gate after he damaged a calf muscle in midweek, but with Andy Carroll locked together with the Dane as a result of his double in midweek, he will be confident he still has the firepower at his disposal to do the job.

City will entertain a side which has lost just one of its last 23 league games having seen manager Gary Johnson depart yesterday after four and a half years at the helm.

However, caretaker Keith Millen, who will be without the suspended Jamal Campbell-Ryce, believes the fixture might just be the ideal one.

He told the club's official website, www.bcfc.co.uk: "It's the perfect game to have, really. The Newcastle match is the one everyone in Bristol has been looking forward to for a long time."

Elsewhere, fourth-placed Leicester will look to maintain the pressure on faltering Forest tomorrow when they entertain Coventry having won four of their last five games.

Cardiff will also hope to serve up their Sunday best as they attempt to stave off the pretenders to their sixth spot and the final play-off berth with a home game against Watford after coming from behind to win at Coventry in midweek.