Unbeaten Newcastle gatecrash top three with win over Stoke

Stoke 1 Newcastle 3. Newcastle's improbable, and unbeaten, start to the season continued as they stormed into the top three with a win over Stoke, thanks to a treble from striker Demba Ba at the Britannia Stadium. The Toon are now three points clear of Chelsea and Tottenham and just one behind Manchester United.

The achievements of Magpies manager Alan Pardew this season are all the more remarkable considering the players he is having to make do without.

Striker Andy Carroll left for Liverpool in January for £35m and following him out of the exit door in the summer were key midfielders Kevin Nolan and Joey Barton, who both headed for London, and full back Jose Enrique who linked up with Carroll at Liverpool.

When Carroll departed it was assumed that the money would be reinvested in the team, however Pardew has only spent modestly. His most expensive summer signings were midfielders Yohan Cabaye and Gabriel Obertan, who cost no more than £7m combined.

However, the Magpies, who many tipped as relegation candidates in August have been a revelation this season, and notched their sixth win in 10 games. Ba, who, as The Times points out, arrived in Newcastle on a free transfer this summer having failed a medical with Stoke earlier in the year did the damage with a hat-trick.

And it was not just up front that Newcastle impressed, as The Daily Telegraph points out, Fabricio Coloccini was "near faultless" at the heart of the Toon defence.

The same paper was even moved to report that Pardew is having to play down talk of a top-four finish and a tilt at the Champions League next season. But Newcastle have had things easy so far this term and have yet to play any of the title contenders. Telegraph writer Henry Winter says that is about to change. He explains: "After entertaining Everton, Newcastle make trips to Manchester City and Manchester United before Chelsea come calling." ·