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Richards refers to Lascelles as rock

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Image for Richards refers to Lascelles as rock

OPINION

Newcastle United defender Jamaal Lascelles is surely bemoaning his luck as he has picked up an injury after getting his form back on track.

The Chronicle reported on Tuesday that the Magpies centre-back had suffered an injury blow as he was likely to be out until early 2020 after suffering a knee injury in the 2-1 win over Bournemouth.

The newspaper pointed out that the blow to Steve Bruce over Lascelles’ injury had been softened as he has plenty of options to play at centre-back with Ciaran Clark, Federico Fernandez, Paul Dummett, Florian Lejeune andĀ Fabian Schar all expected to be available over the next few weeks.

However, that doesn’t take away from the fact Lascelles has been dealt some misfortune if anything it shows you how he’ll be feeling particularly bad about being stuck on the sidelines as there’s no guarantee he’ll be missed or walk back into the first-team when fit again.

In fact, some Newcastle fans even tweeted as much after the news broke that the Magpies captain was set to be unavailable.

However, after being ripped apart by fans at times last season for poor performances, Lascelles has looked much better in recent weeks after struggling at the start campaign.

After all, the defender had the likes of Darren Bent and Adrian Durham questioning his performances earlier in the season, yet he’s getting nothing but praise as of late.

In fact, BBC pundit Micah Richards even singled the Englishman out for praise when revealing how he felt about Bruce’s side currently as he claimed “Lascelles has been a bit of a rock at the back”, as heard in a clip on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Twitter account, after the club’s victory over the Cherries.

The 26-year-old more than warranted Richards’ praise as he has averaged 1.3 interceptions as well as 4.9 clearances across the 12 league outings he has made this season, as per WhoScored, so it’s easy to suggest he has been a rock at the back.

Also when you take into account that Lascelles is the club’s captain so is often seen organising the defence and barking orders, it’s easy to see that he is a stable presence in the heart of Bruce’s defence.

So with that in mind, Lascelles will certainly feel extra unlucky over the timing of his injury as it does seem like he was getting back to his best and he might have to start from square one, once fit again.

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