Sean Longstaff says that he now feels a sense of extra responsibility when playing alongside Newcastle United's Rolls-Royce midfielder Bruno Guimaraes.
The Brazil international was targeted by Nottingham Forest in the last Premier League match as tackles flew in on the former Lyon star and that is becoming a theme in the top-flight as teams try to disrupt Newcastle's pattern of play. His midfield partner Longstaff knows that part of his role is to look after the South American ace.
Longstaff said: "He's such a good player that teams are going to target him a little bit but when there are three, four, five tackles going in I think maybe I have to step in and protect him a little bit but I thought he deals with that really well."
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Against Forest in Newcastle's last clash before the international break, Bruno felt the force of an ex-team-mate in Jonjo Shelvey. Shelvey - knowing how influential Bruno is for United - upended the Toon star during the first half of the game.
Longstaff reflected: "Maybe a couple of others were trying to get into a bit of a fight back but the gaffer set us right at half-time and made the change where Elliot Anderson came on and I thought we were really good in the second half.
"That was a massive win and hopefully a big turning point in the season."
The game at the City Ground was a special one for Longstaff with the midfielder making his first-team bow at the venue back in 2018 under Rafa Benitez in the League Cup. After his last game - some 128 senior appearances later for the Magpies - Longstaff reflected: "I remember walking off the bus and remembered the first time walking off the bus at the City Ground playing for Newcastle and how nervous I was that night so to see how far I've come.
"All the ups and downs, it was quite special to go back there in the Premier League because it's a great stadium and I thought the atmosphere was amazing. "It was a good night and nice to see how far I've came."
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