Jamaal Lascelles insists Newcastle United are scared of no team ahead of the relegation run-in

Jamaal Lascelles says Newcastle United can't be scared of any team as they battle to stay in the Premier League.
Newcastle United captain Jamaal Lascelles.Newcastle United captain Jamaal Lascelles.
Newcastle United captain Jamaal Lascelles.

Rafa Benitez’s side were beaten 2-0 by Liverpool at Anfield at the weekend.

The result left the club 16th in the league and just two points above the relegation zone.

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Newcastle are yet to play Tottenham Hotspur away – the game has been postponed – and Chelsea and Arsenal will visit St James’s Park late in the season.

United limited free-scoring Liverpool to just three shots on target.

And Lascelles believes Newcastle – who overcame Manchester United 1-0 at St James’s Park last month – can beat teams in the top half of the table between now and the end of the season.

Asked about facing Liverpool’s front three of Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, Lascelles said: “They’re probably up there with the best front threes in Europe.

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“We played against them up at St James’s. We managed to get a good result then, and that was with (Philippe) Coutinho at the time.

“I don’t think we should be scared of anyone. We beat Man United the other week, and it’s just about whoever turns up on the day in football.

“Liverpool were the better team, but we will beat good teams in future.”

Salah and Mane netted against Newcastle, who entertain struggling Southampton at St James’s Park on Saturday.

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“We knew it was going to be tough going to Anfield,” said 24-year-old Lascelles.

“Our tactic was to try and stay in the game as long as possible, and try to get into the second half, then when their fans start getting on them we would go for it.

“We stuck to our gameplan, but unfortunately they opened us up and scored first.

“At half-time, we thought we’d come in, refresh and listen to the manager, who told us to stay in the game as long as possible and try to put more pressure on them at the end.

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“But they scored again, and up against a team like this, it becomes really difficult, because they have world-class players.

“Credit to the boys, they kept running until right through until the end. They put in a shift, and we’ll look at what we did wrong and how we can correct it this week.

“We’ll try to take the positives too and go again against Southampton.”