Chris Hughton praised Newcastle's new-found resilience after seeing his 10 men scrap their way to a vital victory over Watford.

Goals from Peter Lovenkrands and substitute Fabrice Pancrate secured a sixth successive win, for the first time since 1996, despite the Magpies playing the final 41 minutes without midfielder Kevin Nolan who was dismissed for a second bookable offence.

But goalkeeper Steve Harper and his defenders stood firm to claim an 11th clean sheet of the season.

The 2-0 victory put Hughton's men four points clear of second-placed West Brom, who conceded a last-gasp equaliser at Derby, and 10 ahead of Nottingham Forest, who climbed into third as a result of their 5-1 thumping of Leicester.

Hughton said: "If I look at what we have managed to achieve so far this season, we are always very keen to point that one out.

"There will be bad times to come, I am sure, but we have shown a lot of resilience and that is the mark of any side which is doing well, that resilience resulting in clean sheets.

"I am absolutely delighted with that.

"What we do know is we are going to have good days and bad days, and what we have so far shown is a resilience to cope with the bad days and, at times, get something from them.

"There are times when you can't speak highly enough of the group of lads you have, and that applies today."

Very little has come easily for Newcastle on or off the pitch this season, and never was that more in evidence that today as they survived a determined fightback following Nolan's 49th-minute dismissal.

Leading 1-0 through Lovenkrands' 20th-minute strike, they found themselves under intense pressure in the wake of Nolan's untimely departure following his foul on influential midfielder Henri Lansbury.

Harper had to make three saves from striker Heidar Helguson, the first of them just before the break and the last in stoppage-time at the end of the game.

However, by that point, Newcastle's nerves had been calmed by Pancrate's superb 83rd-minute strike, which thundered in off the underside of the crossbar.

Hughton, who was unhappy with Nolan's first yellow card for a foul on John Eustace, but had no complaints over the second, was delighted with former Paris St Germain winger Pancrate's contribution.

He said: "It was a wonderful goal and a wonderful time to score."

Hornets boss Malky Mackay admitted finishing had been the difference between the sides.

Mackay said: "That's being clinical and, at times, that's maybe the difference.

"Their guy gets a chance with a couple of minutes to go and puts the ball in the top corner.

"But that's where we are at and that's the group we have got."