01 September 2023 , 12:19
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Newcastle boss Eddie Howe has warned his players not to go out on the town during the season after club captain Jamaal Lascelles was allegedly attacked in a city-centre brawl.
The incident is currently the subject of a police investigation, with Lascelles said to be acting in self-defence after his 19-year-old brother and a friend were allegedly attacked by a gang of men at 4am.
Lascelles was on a night out after the Newcastle squad were given two days off following their 1-0 loss to Manchester City, with the incident occurring after he left a nightclub.
Newcastle believe Lascelles was an innocent party and he is in contention to make his first appearance of the season against Brighton on Saturday, with Sven Botman a doubt after suffering an ankle injury in the 2-2 draw against Liverpool.
"The club will be dealing with everything internally," Howe said when asked about the incident. "A couple of things really, the first thought was Jamaal's safety and the safety of his family was absolutely paramount to us.
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"We believe he was an innocent in the starting of what happened and was acting as a peacemaker. Going back to the first point, the safety of Jamaal is paramount. He's okay and his brother is okay."
The Daily Mail state that Howe has now 'reluctantly issued a night-time curfew' as a result. When asked if the city centre was now a no-go zone in the early hours, he replied: "Unfortunately, probably yes.
Jamaal Lascelles was involved in a city-centre brawl (Getty Images)
Lascelles, his brother and a friend were allegedly attacked by a gang of men (Twitter/@JosephBrownJrno)"In this day and age with the amount of games we have anyway, l'm not sure that's where we should be as a group of players and staff in the early hours. That's just purely with the games and the profile of the players now and what we have this season, so probably you're right, and l'd probably say no.
"It would be nice in theory for us to be in the city centre with our people, but the reality is it's probably not the best place for us to exist late at night. We'd prefer our players aren't out in the city centre in the early hours, I think that's natural from my side.
"It's been an intense week, l think you can tell that from my face. l'm robust enough to deal with these moments but the scrutiny is increasing all the time."