Against all the odds, the Magpies head into tomorrow's Barclays Premier League clash with struggling Wigan unbeaten in 10 games in all competitions so far this season and sitting in fourth place in the table.

While there was confidence within the camp before a ball was kicked that a squad shorn of Kevin Nolan and Jose Enrique - and Joey Barton soon followed them through the exit door - could still compete, Newcastle's rise to prominence has taken many by surprise.

Few even within St James' Park expect the club to retain such a lofty status with Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea in successive weekends looming large on the horizon next month and beyond.

Pardew has already seen how the likes of summer signings Yohan Cabaye and Gabriel Obertan can perform when things are going their way, but he admits he will only really see what backbone his new-look team has when they find themselves up against it.

Asked if he still has much to learn about his team, Pardew said: "I think so, and I think Saturday will provide some different problems because the crowd will be expectant.

"We haven't really had that this year, them expecting us to win, so maybe our first misplaced pass will be greeted with jeers.

"They are the sort of psychological things we have got to overcome.

"We might have a guy sent off, the ref might make a terrible decision - we haven't suffered that yet, so that's all to come, and it's how we react to that."

Many of the men who will do battle for the Magpies tomorrow, of course, were in the side which more than made a fist of life back in the Premier League last season, and the manager knows all about their resilience and character.

But while the new boys are yet to face any kind of adversity, the manager is confident the homework he and his scouting team did before they signed them will pay dividends.

Pardew said: "It was like with Cabaye when I saw him at Lille and when we scouted him - what was his character like when things were going against him?

"It was very, very strong, so it's not a complete fluke. You have to make sure you are bringing in players who have that character.

"Demba Ba at West Ham - if you speak to any West Ham fan, he never threw the towel in, he was always trying to retrieve a situation for them, and they were coming to the great pros we had here, the Sholas, the Alan Smiths, et cetera.

"We have got that and it's very, very important when you have got a league where actually, there isn't much between us other than three or four sides.

"If you can have that, it does give you a slight advantage."

Newcastle maintained their impressive start to the season with a 2-2 home draw with Tottenham, perhaps their most testing opponents to date, last weekend, and it was substitute Shola Ameobi who emerged from the shadows to snatch a point with a late equaliser.

Ameobi is a player who divides opinion on Tyneside, but Pardew is very firmly in his camp.

He said: "I was really happy for him to score that goal. He's a first-class citizen for this city, and hopefully he will get a few more.

"We have got his brother [Sammy] here, of course, who we have high hopes for.

"He's getting bigger than Shola now, so Shola's having to calm down a bit, otherwise his brother is going to clip him around the ear soon.

"They are great lads - a great family, actually - and the city should be proud of them."