Rafael Benitez remains focused on Newcastle United's target of 40 Premier League points, although he acknowledged the magnitude of Saturday's home win over Huddersfield Town.
It looked for a long time as though Newcastle would be frustrated at St James' Park, missing a number of early opportunities to allow the visitors to come into the game in the second half.
"It was an important game and we needed to win," Benitez said. "[Huddersfield] are a good team, well organised. We didn't take our chances and, in the second half, there was a risk we could be caught. We stayed calm.
"It was a great atmosphere and the team and fans together are stronger. The relationship now is really good. We can play here with confidence.
"We know how important every point is - 40 points is the target. If you can win, great - if you cannot, make sure the other team can't."
A massive and well deserved 3 points for March 31, 2018
And Benitez hailed Kenedy's coolness in the final third after the Brazilian teed up Perez's strike with 10 minutes remaining.
He added: "Sometimes the pressure or excitement doesn't allow you to think clearly - with Kenedy, you know he can do that."
Despite seeing his side largely outplayed on Tyneside, Huddersfield's David Wagner felt missed chance were the cause of their demise.
"It's a disappointing result for us," he said. "We aimed to frustrate them and hurt them on the counter-attack. That worked better in the second half after we had some problems.
"We had two big chances in the second half, from [Mathias Jorgensen] on the set-piece and at the end with Scott Malone. We didn't use our chances and that is why we've lost the game."
