Winger Jonas Gutierrez has re-committed himself to Newcastle's mission to regain their Barclays Premier League status after finally opening his goal account.

The 26-year-old Argentina international set his side on their way to a comfortable 3-1 Coca-Cola Championship victory over Peterborough on Saturday with his first strike for the club.

However, despite the long wait, he did not celebrate in his accustomed way, by donning a Spiderman mask, after being dismayed at suggestions earlier in the week he is looking to leave the club in January with Roma reportedly on his trail.

Gutierrez said: "I left it in the changing room because I have read something in the newspapers that I didn't like about me, that I want to leave Newcastle, so I didn't want to celebrate because it's not true.

"I am happy at Newcastle and I want to be here next year. I want to be here next year in the Premier League and nothing else.

"I have wanted to score since I came here, so I am very happy about that. It's my first one and now I will try to score more in the rest of the season."

It was Gutierrez's 45th appearance for the club, but it was worth the wait to see him find the back of the net with 15 minutes gone.

Having picked up possession inside his own half, he surged past a succession of blue shirts and into the box before firing home with the help of a deflection off defender Craig Morgan.

Gutierrez was back in the dressing room within six minutes nursing a dead leg, but as he headed for the showers, Andy Carroll had already made it 2-0 with a fine header and the game was over.

Peterborough simply did not compete for long periods, and although they rallied, Danny Simpson's 52nd-minute curler - also his first for the club - eased the Magpies further ahead.

Dean Keates pulled one back for the visitors with 10 minutes remaining after keeper Steve Harper had found himself at the centre of a flurry of activity, but it was too little, too late.

The victory leaves Newcastle two points clear at the top of the table with their tally of 33 from 16 games just one short of the total they managed during the whole of last season.

Even the protests over owner Mike Ashley's decision to rename St James' Park, which punctuated the afternoon, could not dispel the growing feelgood factor on Tyneside.

By contrast, Darren Ferguson's Posh side slipped to the bottom of the pile and left themselves facing an uphill struggle.

Ferguson said: "You know what football is like and players are very fragile. We are used to winning games every week, or most weeks, in the last two seasons, and we find ourselves in the opposite scenario now.

"We are not winning many games, we are bottom of the league, but that's the challenge we have got ahead.

"We have got 30 games to get out of the bottom three, that's how we look at it.

"But Newcastle are a club that once they get on a roll, they are hard to stop.

"It was always going to be a big ask for us on Saturday, but I was just disappointed in the manner that we didn't give ourselves a chance."