'Not going to change' - Eddie Howe reflects on Newcastle United's new dressing room leadership group

Eddie Howe has underlined the importance of his Newcastle United leadership group - but insists that Jamaal Lascelles' role as captain will not change.

Lascelles goes into his seventh season as skipper after succeeding Fabricio Coloccini back in summer 2016 under Rafa Benitez. Lascelles has now served Benitez, Steve Bruce and Eddie Howe with neither manage since the Rafa era seeing fit to change captain.

Howe name checked two other key figures from the dressing room in Kieran Trippier and Dan Burn who have both taken turns in captaining the team when Lascelles was not on the field. For Burn, the season offers him the stuff dreams are made of if he gets to lead United as captain at St James' Park.

But Howe is delighted with the chemistry within the group and is looking forward to the ex-Nottingham Forest man's captaincy this term. Howe said: "Jamaal is our captain - I have said that many times. And that is not going to change.

"But we have other leaders in the group, sure we do. Kieran Trippier is one of them with several other players that will lead, talk. I thought Dan Burn against Atalanta was excellent in terms of his talking and leadership."

In the past Newcastle have lacked leaders behind the scenes and have struggled to stay away from trouble in the Premier League.

Howe said: "What you want is six, seven or eight leaders in the team, it makes such a difference. Jamaal is one of those leaders and I am very pleased and proud to have him as our captain."