Character was key, says captain Lascelles

The Magpies captain nodded in the decisive goal in the second half at St. James’ Park – his second winner in as many weeks, following his clincher at Swansea City last weekend.

Christian Atsu had opened the scoring for the hosts, before Xherdan Shaqiri’s low strike drew the Potters level not long after the break.

But Lascelles’ thumping header – which ricocheted in off the underside of the crossbar – won it for Rafa Benítez’s men, and the 23-year-old says their refusal to fold after being pegged back is indicative of the spirit in their dressing room.

“It just goes to show how much character we have,” he told nufc.co.uk after Newcastle moved into fourth place in the table. “A couple of seasons back, we’d go a goal down or concede a goal and heads would drop. We’d be looking at each other like ‘who’s going to step up?’

“But everyone steps up, the 11 of us. This group of boys are excellent – we just keep going.

“We’re an ambitious bunch of players, we’re a really tight group of lads, and we’re friends. We work hard for each other on the pitch.

“We’ve set our standards now. In the West Ham game we set our benchmark, and now we need to maintain and improve from that, and I think we have.”

Lascelles’ second goal of the season came from an inswinging corner from Matt Ritchie, who also supplied Atsu’s close-range strike in the first half.

“I thought ‘just attack it’. I think I should have scored in the first half, which I was pretty disappointed with so I felt like I needed to make up for that,” said Lascelles, who went close from another Ritchie delivery with the score at 1-0.

“Matt Ritchie’s deliveries are unbelievable – I feel like I can get a few goals this season with his crosses, and especially when teams are marking zonal as well.

“I’m pleased, but what pleased me the most is the opportunities we had. It just goes to show against tough opposition, a big Premier League team, we can really compete and create a lot of chances.

“There are a lot of positives to take from that game, and I feel like we probably should have scored a few more goals than we did.

“I think if we had drawn that game, it would have felt like a loss because of the amount of chances we had. But, collectively, it was a brilliant team performance, and it’s always nice to get on the scoresheet as well.”

As well as his heroics in the opposition’s penalty box, Lascelles has excelled as part of a resolute back four in recent weeks.

The former Nottingham Forest man says he’s as satisfied with his team’s displays as a group as he is with his own fine form.

“It goes with the way the team’s playing as well – everyone is doing well. When you’re playing in a good team, you do well yourself, and fortunately I’ve managed to get a couple of goals,” he said.

“Down the other end, we’ve been really hard to score against. I think we were unlucky to concede today – a shot from outside the box went through a few bodies – and we’ll definitely look at that and try and fix it.

“But overall it was a great performance, and I’m glad we could give the fans what they wanted.”

Having won three top flight games on the bounce for the first time since November 2014, United travel to fellow promoted side Brighton & Hove Albion next Sunday, and Lascelles feels Benítez’s side are well-placed to continue to their fine run of results.

“I don’t see why not. We’ve got the right mentality, we’ve got the talent. The opposition will not be up for it like we will be,” he added.

“We’ve got a young team and in 90 minutes we show so much energy, and I don’t think teams can deal with that. We’re constantly pressing, we’re on the front foot, and we’re always sprinting, filling in for each other, tackling.”