Eddie Howe has underlined the importance of his Newcastle United leadership group - but insists that Jamaal Lascelles' role as captain will not change.
Lascelles goes into his seventh season as skipper after succeeding Fabricio Coloccini back in summer 2016 under Rafa Benitez. Lascelles has now served Benitez, Steve Bruce and Eddie Howe with neither manage since the Rafa era seeing fit to change captain.
Howe name checked two other key figures from the dressing room in Kieran Trippier and Dan Burn who have both taken turns in captaining the team when Lascelles was not on the field. For Burn, the season offers him the stuff dreams are made of if he gets to lead United as captain at St James' Park.
