Steve Bruce names two players who learn from Andy Carroll – over lunch

The striker, re-signed in the summer as he recovered from ankle surgery, came off the bench and changed the game against Southampton at St James’s Park last weekend.

Carroll’s influence at the club isn’t just confined to the pitch. The 30-year-old is an example to lunch-mates Sean and Matty Longstaff, according to Steve Bruce.

“Thankfully, touch wood, his ankle is holding up,” said head coach Bruce. “There’s one or two niggles. We’ve had to manage them, but fair play to him.

“Maybe three months ago, it’s Andy Carroll, the experienced one, not the young one. Just watch his half an hour the other day, and how he changed the game. It was the Andy Carroll of old again.

“As I’ve said from the day we brought him in, if he’s fit, he can always lead from the front, not just one the pitch, but off it, too. The Longstaff brothers, for example, sit with him every day having their lunch. It’s good to see.”

Carroll – who could start against Burnley at Turf Moor on Saturday – spoke to the Gazette last week after making his first Newcastle start in nine years.

“I haven’t come here just for the fun of it and to be back home,” said the Gateshead-born player. “I’ve come here to do a job, and my job is to start games, play games, score goals, create goals.

“That’s what I’m here for – I’m not here for a jolly up.”