Steve Bruce believes Sean Longstaff is playing 'exceptionally well' and enjoying his best run of form since the Newcastle United head coach took charge of his boyhood club in 2019
Longstaff was left on the bench for the season opener against West Ham last month but, with Jonjo Shelvey sidelined, the midfielder has started every game since then.
It was always going to be a big campaign for Longstaff, who returned to the training ground early last summer to work with Nick Grantham, Newcastle's strength and conditioning coach, and James Allan, the club's sports scientist, in a bid to make an impression.
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Longstaff has benefited from an extended run in the side - improving with every start - and the 24-year-old scored his first goal since July last year in the 1-1 draw against Watford on Saturday.
It perhaps sums up Longstaff's confidence right now that he even took the shot from outside the area and goalkeeper Ben Foster could only palm the curling effort into his own net.
Longstaff is starting to look a little more like himself, having previously been in and out of the team under Bruce, after recovering from a serious knee injury in 2019.
Such were Longstaff's performances before that untimely blow, Mike Ashley went as far as to warn Manchester United that the North Shields lad was 'not for sale'.
Longstaff is out of contract in the summer and, while it will fall to the club's hierarchy to make a breakthrough in talks, Bruce will surely want to keep hold of the midfielder when he is in this sort of form.
"I have to say he's played very well, which I'm delighted to see," he told reporters on Zoom after the game. "Long may it continue.
"I'm really pleased with Sean at the moment. He's playing exceptionally well, as good as he's played since I've been at the club, so I'm delighted."
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