Newcastle United will be looking to pick up their third successive Premier League win when they play hosts to Stoke City at St James' Park on Saturday.

The Magpies recovered from consecutive defeats to Tottenham Hotspur and fellow newly-promoted side Huddersfield Town at the beginning of the campaign by beating West Ham United 3-0 and Swansea City 1-0 at the Liberty Stadium, and they will also be hoping to keep another clean sheet for the visit of the Potters.

Jamaal Lascelles scored the winning goal in south Wales for Rafa Benitez’s side last time out, and the team will certainly be in confident mood, believing that they can record another positive result against Mark Hughes’ men.

It won’t be an easy task though, with this weekend’s visitors reacting to a narrow opening day loss against Everton at Goodison Park with three impressive top flight results.

Here are three reasons Newcastle's winning run will come to an end against Stoke…

They still aren’t the finished article

While some Newcastle fans may be getting a little excited following the wins against West Ham United and Swansea City in their last two fixtures, it is still clear to see that while the Magpies are improving, they are far from the finished article.

Those supporters must remember that the Irons were low on confidence and put in another dire display on the road, while the Swans have failed to score in three of their opening four Premier League fixtures.

That isn’t taking anything away from Rafa Benitez’s side – who have bounced back well following a disappointing start to the campaign – but they can’t afford to let any sort of complacency creep into their game, starting against Stoke on Saturday.

Three consecutive wins

Newcastle don’t often win three Premier League matches in a row, and in fact the last time they did it was way back in November 2014.

On that occasion, they actually won five on the bounce with the victories coming against Leicester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, West Bromwich Albion and Queens Park Rangers, while they failed to repeat the feat in the season they were relegated.

For those of you thinking that it is a bit of a harsh stat considering the Magpies were in the Championship last term, the last time the Toon Army won three consecutive games before that brilliant run of form was 12 months earlier in November 2013.

Of course records are there to be broken, but history certainly isn’t on Rafa Benitez’s side as they look to pick up another three points against Stoke at St James’ Park this weekend.

Stoke are a tough nut to crack

While the Potters started the season by losing 1-0 to Everton at Goodison Park in what was an even game, they have bounced back brilliantly since and are a tough team to beat.

Mark Hughes’ men recorded a fine win by the same scoreline against Arsenal with new boy Jese Rodriguez scoring the winning goal, before they picked up a creditable 1-1 draw with West Bromwich Albion at the Hawthorns.

They showed just what a threat they can be last time out too, as they held Manchester United to a 2-2 draw despite the fact Jose Mourinho’s men visited the Potteries with a 100% record and having failed to concede a goal in their opening three Premier League fixtures.

Do you agree, Magpies fans? Let us know below.