Gayle notched his seventeenth goal of the campaign just after the quarter-of-an-hour mark, only for the Brewers to respond almost instantly through former Leicester City winger Lloyd Dyer.

Mohamed Diame put the Magpies back in front before the break, however, and – despite a testing second-half – Rafa Benitez’s side held firm to claim a third win in the space of eight days.

The Brewers – perched just above the relegation zone ahead of the clash – applied plenty of pressure late on, imposing frontmen Lucas Akins and Chris O’Grady both proving a threat.

And – on what was their first ever visit to the Pirelli Stadium – Gayle acknowledged that United had been forced to dig deep in the closing stages to make sure of another three-point haul.

“Today wasn’t perhaps the best performance, but it just shows the togetherness we have and the willingness to win,” he told nufc.co.uk. “It’s a great result for us. Not many teams are going to come here and win – Burton are difficult to play against and they know what they’re good at.

“I thought they played well today, but we were just solid. We pretty much knew what they were about. The two strikers they have are a real handful, and they’re both good players. I thought we blended into the game and dealt with it. To keep them down to one is really good, and we defended well.”

Despite Brighton & Hove Albion's late win at Birmingham City, Newcastle are now guaranteed to top the Championship table on Christmas Day.

They return to action against Sheffield Wednesday a week on Monday, before welcoming Nottingham Forest to St. James’ Park in their final outing of the calendar year.

The traditionally hectic festive period holds no fear for Gayle, however, who is already relishing the prospect of playing four games within the space of a fortnight.

And, though he continues to close in on the 20-goal milestone, the frontman insists it is the success of the United side as a whole which remains his priority.

“The main thing is for me to go into each game and help out the team, whichever way it is. I have to do what I can, whether it’s assisting, scoring, running into the channels or getting the team up the pitch,” he said.

“It’s a great feeling to be top of the table at Christmas, and it’ll make the next few days that bit nicer. It’ll be fantastic to play every couple of days, because that’s what you want to do. It’s fantastic to go out and play in front of 52,000, and away from home, they’re selling every ticket we get.

“They are good times at the moment.”