A former Newcastle United captain has struggled to find form after a move away from St James Park earlier this year.
Former Newcastle United captain Jamaal Lascelles is facing an almost certain relegation into League One after his current club Leicester City fell to a narrow defeat against Championship rivals Portsmouth on Saturday.
The former Magpies stalwart brought an end to his near 12-year stay on Tyneside when he agreed a short-term deal with the Foxes after the former Premier League champions and FA Cup winners looked to utilise his experience and knowhow in their bid to avoid suffering successive relegation.
Speaking about joining the Foxes in the days after the January transfer window came to a close, Lascelles said: “I’m definitely going to add high standards, professionalism… for me, they’re non-negotiable. It’s the one per cents every day, dragging myself and other people on board and just keeping high standards. If you do that in and around the building, on the training pitch, it’ll carry onto the games. It’s quite a young squad, so I feel like, with me being 32, I’ve been in similar positions before in my career, in the Championship, so there’s not much I haven’t seen. I’m just hoping to bring my experience and add to everybody here. There’s some great talent. I’ve been keeping my eye on Leicester for a while. There’s some fantastic talent in the team.”
Despite his initial positivity over what could lie ahead as he embarked on his career at the King Power Stadium, Lascelles has been unable to help the Foxes instigate an upturn in form. After making his debut in a 2-1 defeat against Birmingham City just days after putting pen-to-paper, Lascelles has gone on to make a further seven appearances for the Foxes and played for the entire 90 minutes as his side suffered a 1-0 defeat at fellow strugglers Portsmouth on Saturday. That has left Gary Rowett’s men on the brink of suffering relegation into League One and they head into a home double-header with promotion contenders Hull City and Millwall sitting eight points from safety with just three games remaining.
Belief
Gary Rowett, Manager of Leicester City, gestures during the Sky Bet Championship match between Sheffield Wednesday and Leicester City at Hillsborough on April 06, 2026 in Sheffield, England. (Photo by Mark Sutton/Getty Images)placeholder image
Gary Rowett, Manager of Leicester City, gestures during the Sky Bet Championship match between Sheffield Wednesday and Leicester City at Hillsborough on April 06, 2026 in Sheffield, England. (Photo by Mark Sutton/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Foxes boss has insisted his side must still believe they can produce what would be a miracle escape from the drop - starting with a home win against Hull on Tuesday.
Speaking after the defeat at Portsmouth, Rowett said: ‘I can say we’ve got belief. We need to show that in our performances and our results. I said to the players we’ve got to start hoping we get a little fortune from somewhere else. But I don’t like saying that as a manager. I’m not interested in what other teams do, I’m interested in what we do. We have to be professional. As a player, if I had three games to go and I was already relegated, ‘I’d still want to win all three of those games. I don’t care. It’s about pride and your own personal standards.”
As it stands, Lascelles is set to leave Leicester when his current contract comes to a close at the end of the season and it is not yet known what impact relegation could have on his immediate future.
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