It’s Hammer time for United
CAPTAIN IS SEEKING REVENGE FOR ST JAMES’ DRUBBING
JAMAAL Lascelles insists Newcastle United owe West Ham United one after losing so heavily to them at St James’ Park earlier in the season.
The corresponding fixture was won 3-0 by the Hammers on a day which plunged the Magpies into their worst home form since the 1953/54 season.
However, United have recovered well since then and skipper Lascelles feels his team can now beat “anybody” with confidence flowing again.
Lascelles, whose form has been excellent since the turn of the year, told the Chronicle: “Last time they came to us and spanked us at home.
“We are looking to get them back this time.
“I don’t think there could be a better weekend for us to be going into this game.
“We won there last season but we know there is a lively crowd down there.
“West Ham are a good team too but we are building momentum now.
“I think we can beat anybody right now.”
Newcastle go into the game on the back of an excellent win over
Burnley after bringing the Lancashire side’s long unbeaten run to an abrupt end.
Competition for places is excellent at United with stars like Federico Fernandez, Jonjo Shelvey, Mo Diame and Ki all unable to get a start at the moment.
Lascelles added: “It has been tough for the manager because he has to keep people happy with the squad he has. “There are a lot of players who could be in the starting line-up and even players missing out on the squad. So there are big decisions for him.
“It only brings more competition for the lads and we will need to keep pushing and pushing.
“I am overwhelmed with the performances from the boys. “Burnley were a good side and arrived here eight games unbeaten so we knew it would be difficult.
“They have a lot of characters and they know the Premier League very well. “We were ruthless with our
finishing and we were professional enough to see the game off.”
Newcastle stormed into a 2-0 lead before half-time against the Clarets but then had to put up with a secondhalf response from the visitors.
When assessing the performance, Lascelles said: “You can see why teams will struggle with Burnley’s style of play.
“It is not too pretty but they know what to do and everybody in their team knows how to do it.
“We were looking at how to stop them and defensively we were good at doing it.
“Their two strikers Barnes and Wood have been on fire in 2019 but they did not really get a sniff against us. “All over the pitch for us with Salo mon Rondon doing what he always does and Miguel Almiron and Ayoze Perez doing what they do.
“Sean Longstaff got on the scoresheet again and we dealt with everything.
“When they brought Peter Crouch on I was thinking: ‘Come on, give us a break.’ “You know they will just be pumping the ball into the box and there will be more pressure. “We dealt with their first ball quite a lot. “We said before the game the second ball was going to be massive because even if they won the first one it would be the second one which hurt us. “People were in the right positions to stop that.”
It only brings more competition for the lads and we’ll need to keep pushing and pushing. Jamaal Lascelles