This is why Jamaal Lascelles withdrew from the Newcastle United matchday squad vs Nottingham Forest

Eddie Howe has revealed why Jamaal Lascelles withdrew from Newcastle United’s matchday squad against Nottingham Forest.

The Magpies captain was named among the substitutes with Fabian Schar and Dan Burn selected as the centre-back pairing.

Lascelles was due to watch on from the bench but was replaced by Paul Dummett after struggling during the warm-up.

Howe, asked about Lascelles’ late withdrawal, said: “I think he felt his thigh in the warm up.

“I don’t think he could really sprint so I don’t know whether it’s a pull or tightness. I need to speak to him to find out.”

Schar was on the scoresheet to break the deadlock on 58 minutes before Callum Wilson added a second 12 minutes before the end.

“It was a brilliant performance from us, I thought,” Howe said. “From start to finish, I was very, very pleased but at half-time the game was very much still in the balance.

“Despite our dominance, we hadn’t scored, Nottingham Forest defended well. The main aspect of my team talk was to make sure we didn’t lose our discipline and search for that goal in a disjointed way.

“Thankfully, we didn’t and the players went out second-half and the flow of the game was very similar and we got rewarded in the end for our patience.”