Season starts now for me, says Lejeune

FLORIAN Lejeune insists his season starts now after making a successful return from a knee injury that originally threatened to wipe out his season.

The Frenchman played in his first Premier League game since May, also against Chelsea, and has now played back-to-back matches after getting 90 minutes under his belt in the FA Cup tie with Blackburn Rovers last weekend.

Lejeune tore his anterior cruciate ligament during pre-season and required an operation, but he has fought back way ahead of schedule to give Rafa Benitez a timely boost.

Speaking at Stamford Bridge, Lejeune said: “I am just so happy to be playing again.

“It’s been five months out for me, but I am still disappointed we did not get the right result.

“This is my first Premier League game back though and the season starts here for me.”

Newcastle were beaten 2-1 in West London after recovering from a shaky start against the Blues, and Lejeune insists there were plenty of positive signs.

He said: “The team is working very hard. I think we played well at Chelsea and it was a really good effort from us.

“We need three points against Cardiff now for sure next week.

“The togetherness is there. We played a good team and we showed we could stay together. We were compact and worked very well.”

Lejeune and most of his teammates went over to applaud the Toon Army at the end of the game after they had backed their team throughout on Saturday night.

The former Eibar defender added: “The supporters were magnificent, as they are every game, every week. We can only say thank you to them.”

Lejeune has been working hard on his English and conducted this interview without the need of a translator for the first time.

But he needed just one word to respond when asked if the thirdbottom Magpies will survive this term, simply replying: “Yes.”