Lascelles: Mags will have a proper go
Jamaal Lascelles says Newcastle United will have a “proper go” at Southampton.
Rafa Benitez’s side are 16th in the Premier League – and two points above the relegation zone – ahead of tomorrow’s sold-out home game.
Mauricio Pellegrino’s team are a place below the Tynesiders in the table. The fixture is followed by a 21-day break, when Benitez plans to take his team to Spain for a behind-closed-doors friendly.
Newcastle, beaten 2-0 by Liverpool last weekend, entertain 15th-placed Huddersfield Town on March 31.
And captain Lascelles believes the two games could prove pivotal to the club’s survival hopes, given that they are both effectively six-pointers.
“We put the Liverpool game behind us, and we’re looking forward to the next two,” said Lascelles. “We’ve got Southampton on Saturday and, we have to be really confident going into it. “They’re still a tough team, but we’ve been playing some really good football recently, and the boys are really going to look forward to playing against them. “We will get our heads down in training and listen to the boss, refresh and have a proper go at the weekend – because we will.”
Newcastle face an extended break because of Tottenham Hotspur’s progress in the FA Cup – and two rounds of international fixtures later this month
And Lascelles, 24, said: “We have to get three points against Southampton.
“We’ll set out to win the game, go for it, and make sure we do win, because we need to with the break after.”
32 Newcastle have won 32 league games v Saints, with 30 defeats