The Magpies skipper says his former Tyneside teammate, who heads to St James’ Park with the Cottagers, can be “a nightmare” for enemy defenders.
Newcastle United captain Jamaal Lascelles is expecting a difficult afternoon when Aleksandar Mitrovic’s Fulham come to St James’ Park on Saturday.
Although the Cottagers have been struggling in the Premier League this season and currently sit bottom, the former Magpies striker has been in good form, netting seven league goals in 17 appearances.
Mitrovic was at Newcastle between July 2015 – when he joined from Anderlecht for £16.65million – and July this year, moving permanently to Fulham for £18.18million after a half-season loan in which he helped get them promoted from the Championship (Transfermarkt).
The Serbia international split opinion at the Tyneside club, with some fan reaction since his exit ranging from calling the striker “a proper pudding” to suggesting manager Rafa Benitez is guilty of “ruining” him.
Speaking to NUFC TV, Lascelles praised his former teammate for how difficult he makes life for opposition defenders, but insists Newcastle will not be intimidated.
“Mitro’s a good striker,” said the Magpies skipper. “He’s smart. He can be a nightmare for centre-halves.
“We’re all paid to do our jobs. We’ll be full of confidence and hopefully we can get a good win in front of the fans.”
Benitez’s charges have overturned poor form of their own from earlier in the season and go into the Fulham game on the back of a 1-0 win at Huddersfield.
However, the 2-1 home loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers prior to that game, plus the 3-0 hammering by West Ham at the start of the month, mean Newcastle still have some fine-tuning to do.
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