Alan Shearer praises Burn for ‘commanding display’ against Villa

Newcastle United enjoyed a 1-0 win over Aston Villa on Sunday and Dan Burn delivered a fine performance on his debut to keep the Midlands outfit quiet at St James’ Park. The 29-year-old started alongside Fabian Schar at centre-back and was resolute over the 90 minutes.

No player blocked more shots or made more headed clearances than Burn, resulting in Alan Shearer naming him in his Premier League Team of the Week. The 51-year-old wrote of Burn’s performance: ‘What a moment for the Geordie. A commanding display on his debut for his boyhood club.’

Newcastle signed the Englishman on a two-and-a-half-year deal from Brighton & Hove Albion and he’s already made an instant impact. Eddie Howe’s men are unbeaten in five Premier League games and boast three consecutive wins, so they go into Saturday’s trip to face West Ham United off the back of fine form.

Only Norwich City (50) and Leeds United (46) have conceded more goals than Newcastle in the league (44) while only Burnley (16.9), Leicester City (16.2) and Leeds (15.5) have conceded more shots per game (15.3). Burn’s arrival will certainly help to keep opponents quite and he did the job on his debut.

Villa were reduced to only one shot on target over the 90 minutes and two of their attackers were substituted due to their ineffectiveness.

In other news, Alan Hutton says pending Dan Ashworth appointment is ‘massive’ for Newcastle United