Captain Sensible on football, focus and humility
WE’VE GOT LONG WAY TO GO, SAYS TOON ACE
JAMAAL Lascelles has insisted that Newcastle United will stay “humble” despite climbing into the Premier League’s coveted top four.
United can extend their stay in the upper echelons of the top flight this weekend if they beat Brighton – but although confidence is high in the Toon camp, Lascelles won’t let anybody get ahead of themselves.
The Newcastle skipper, who has been spoken about as a candidate for the next England squad, told the Chronicle: “People will think we’re fourth and get carried away.
“It’s good to be happy, and I am pleased for the team, but at the same time, we do have a long way to go.
“I think the main thing for us, like last season, is to keep our heads down and work hard. We will keep listening to the boss.
“He will think the same as me, we know we have to prepare and keep working hard. We don’t want to get carried away and think that we are flying – that won’t achieve anything.
“We must stay humble and keep playing.”
Lascelles has been the matchwinner for Newcastle twice in the last fortnight after heading home winning goals against Swansea and at home to Stoke City.
The centreback said: “It’s always nice to play my part for the team. But again it was a great performance from the boys as a team against Stoke.
“Since the win over West Ham we have set a benchmark and we are looking to maintain and improve. That’s what we aim to do.
“We don’t want to get carried away or get ahead of ourselves, but we are just taking it game by game. “The energy we show and the determination and passion is there to see. “When it went to 1-1 we showed energy. Two years ago that would have been a different story, but it goes to show what characters we have on the pitch. “We will roll our sleeves up and grab a game with two hands. “We will go and make sure we will win the game because we were the better team by miles.
We don’t want to get carried away or get ahead of ourselves, but we are just taking it game by game Jamaal Lascelles
“It should have been a win by four or five goals.” Newcastle were roared on by 50,000 fans at home to Stoke and will take another 2,500 supporters to Brighton for a late-afternoon Sunday fixture. Lascelles said: “These fans are unbelievable. If we perform on the pitch for them that’s what it’ll be like. They know we are giving our all. “We will keep fighting until the last minute and they know how well we play. There was no frustration from them. Maybe only frustration that we didn’t score a few more, but I am really pleased with the way they are, I thank them. I know they will always be like that.”
Newcastle took six points from Brighton last season but were pushed all the way until the last few seconds of the season in the battle for the title.
Lascelles said: “This one will be a big game again. We know they will be up for it. They are a good team, especially down at their place.
“But we beat them there last season and there’s no reason why we can’t beat them again.”