Newcastle United captain makes bold Erling Haaland admission after Manchester City defeat

Newcastle suffered a third straight defeat in all competitions as goals in either half from Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva saw City claim three points. It was another case of The Magpies playing well to a point but were unable to find the finishing touch to break the home side down.

Despite the defeat, Lascelles insisted there was still positives to take: “We made it difficult. On a different day you don't know.

"We had chances to be fair. I think we have come a long way but to go toe to toe with them and play so high up the pitch here there are positives to take.

"Not many teams will come here and go on the front-foot and have a high press on the halfway line.

"I think we did that today. A couple of times we nearly nicked it. It just goes to show the way the manager wants to play. On the front-foot no matter who we face.

"We are disappointed not to get anything."

It was Lascelles’ first Premier League start since the 2-1 defeat at Liverpool back in August as he replaced the injured Fabian Schar. It was a difficult ask for the defender to return to the side against Man City and come up against the division’s top scorer in Erling Haaland.

But the United skipper admitted he relished the opportunity to test himself against on the the world’s best

"I enjoyed it,” he admitted after the match. "[Haaland] has a great record so far but I was looking forward to playing against him.

"I have been on the bench for a while because of how well the team has done. They have been fantastic.

"I had to wait my turn. And I was ready when called upon.

"It is a shame we didn't get anything from the game but there were positives to take."

The result leaves Newcastle fifth in the Premier League table with 14 matches left to play. But Eddie Howe's side have now won just one of their last eight league matches.