Newcastle United Under-23s coach Ben Dawson believes achieving promotion would be the "icing on the cake" for what he already regards as an excellent season.
The young Magpies secured a Premier League 2, Division 2, play-off spot by coming from two goals down to defeat Stoke City 3-2 on Monday night.
Automatic promotion remains a possibility, too, with Dawson's third-placed side just two points behind top-of-the-table Southampton with two games remaining.
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Yet, even if United miss out on the solitary automatic-promotion slot, Newcastle have already confirmed that they will be one of the four teams in the play-offs - and, should they finish second or third, they will secure a home tie, too.
For Dawson, Sean Longstaff big interview: Newcastle midfielder on 'surreal season', injury & bromance with Hayden this season is something he looks upon with pride, and the Under-23s coach is already pleased with how his side have performed in the league and the Checkatrade Trophy, in which they reached the last 16.
But Dawson admits that achieving promotion to Division 1 of Premier League 2 would ensure this has been a memorable campaign for a reserve team who have struggled in recent years.
"To get promotion would be the icing on the cake but what we have achieved already this season outranks what we have done before," Dawson told the club's official website.
"We've been close in [to] the play-offs before, but the added bits around this group - such as seeing Sean's acceleration [into the first team] - is the biggest thing that the lads can see and grasp on to.
"Earlier in the season, he was one of them, playing games, and then all of a sudden he is making his Premier League debut away at Liverpool.
"The lads can see that if you have the effort, desire and qualities along with good habits and consistency in performance, you have a real chance."
On Monday evening at the bet365 Stadium, United fell two goals behind and Owen Bailey also missed a first-half penalty.
Yet Bailey netted a brace and substitute Yannick Toure also scored as Newcastle launched an inspired second-half comeback.
Their final two regular-season fixtures are against Manchester United and Middlesbrough - and, should Newcastle triumph in both of those games, they will secure a home semi-final as a minimum, and possibly even clinch automatic promotion.
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"I think from the player's view they went from playing sloppy and lethargic to all of a sudden playing with some urgency and intensity in the second half, showing a lot of fight," Dawson said of the victory at Stoke.
"It was really disappointing at half-time and we let the players know that, but it was a fantastic response.
"It was a great experience for them to do that and I wish they could have done that for the whole 90 minutes as we could have made it so much easier for ourselves.
"We had a mountain to climb, but this group has that character and the quality which we showed in the second half to be able to go and score three goals away from home in a 45-minute period.
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"If other teams start looking at that and thinking the game isn't dead at two or three nil, that's always a good thing to have.
"There's a little bit of pressure off us now in the league but like every game we play in, we are playing to win it.
"We weren't playing to sit back and take a draw against Stoke knowing we would qualify for the play-offs. At 2-2, we were pushing another goal and after scoring, we were still going for a fourth."
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