Jamaal Lascelles (L) and Dan Burn (R)
Jamaal Lascelles (L) and Dan Burn (R) (Image: Newcastle United via Getty Images)
Jamaal Lascelles will "reap the rewards" of his around the clock dedication to his comeback from a serious knee injury - according to Toon head coach Eddie Howe.
It was back in April that the club captain discovered he would be ruled out for nine months after suffering a knee injury in the 4-3 win over West Ham last season. Now the hope is that Lascelles will be back in January at some stage with Howe enlightening fans on the defender's long days at Benton.
Lascelles was also spotted at the recent 3-2 win for the reserves over Chelsea at Whitley Park. Both Lascelles and Botman have been working side by side in their rehab programmes.
Howe told Chronicle Live: "He is very focused. We always said he was a bit behind Sven. Sven had no complications in his rehab and as much as they are always difficult injuries, the long-term knee injuries are very difficult. You always have your ups and downs.
"Sven was pretty standards, Jamaal has had, not what I'd call setbacks, but a couple of moments where his knee has not felt as strong. He will just take a little bit longer than Sven did. But he's track and he is doing well."
And offering insight into his work behind the scenes, Howe added: "I have to say his dedication is there. Sometimes he has been here until 5pm/6pm at night.
"I have got to say that is on a regular basis. That is the dedication he is giving to his comeback and I am sure he will reap the rewards for that."
At the time of suffering the season ending injury, Lascelles said: "For the first 20 seconds after going down, I felt pain but after that it more or less went and I thought maybe it was just a bone on bone impact injury. I got up had a little jog and it didn't feel too bad.
"I didn't feel it pop or anything like that - but when I went back on I knew something wasn't right. I genuinely didn't expect it to be anything like an ACL though until the scene confirmed the full extent of the injury."