Jamaal Lascelles has warned former club Nottingham Forest ahead of their trip to Newcastle United on Saturday.
What’s the latest Newcastle United news?
Saturday brings the return of the Premier League season and Forest’s first top-flight game since 1999, with their clash against Newcastle littered with subplots.
Lascelles, of course, came through the ranks at the City Ground and moved to St James’ Park in 2014 alongside Karl Darlow. With Dan Burn and Sven Botman strengthening Eddie Howe’s defensive options over the course of the last two windows, the Newcastle captain was even linked with a return to Forest earlier this summer.
While no longer a guaranteed starter, Howe has confirmed the 28-year-old will remain as captain, so the possibility of a move even late in the window seems remote.
Elsewhere, there could be a return to St James’ Park for a certain Jack Colback, while Forest’s marquee signing in Jesse Lingard was a target for Newcastle this summer, although his wage demands proved prohibitive.
What did Lascelles say of Forest?
Speaking to The Chronicle in the build-up to the new campaign, Lascelles said: “Nottingham Forest is a huge club, and there’s a lot of history and obviously I am in the position I’m in because of them.
“Ultimately, without them, I’d not be here. I came up through the ranks. It’s a special place and a special team but now I am focused on just playing the game and beating them.
“Teams that get promoted, it can always go two ways. Hopefully, we can get up and running and I am glad we are at home because that will make a big difference.
“We’re all thinking the same way and looking to get off to a good start. We want to see how far we can go and see how well we can do.”
How should Newcastle lineup against Forest?
It’s unlikely we’ll see too much of a different team to the one who finished the season against Burnley, except for potentially Nick Pope and Botman coming in for Martin Dubravka and one of Burn or Lascelles.
Jonjo Shelvey, meanwhile, is injured, meaning Joe Willock, Sean Longstaff and Elliot Anderson will likely battle it out for the third spot in midfield alongside Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton.
