Newcastle United boss Steve Bruce has talked up the display of midfielder Sean Longstaff after he returned to the side which beat Everton at St James' Park.
The Geordie midfielder put in a polished performance against the Toffees and has now left Bruce with a big decision to make for Friday night's encounter with Southampton with Isaac Hayden also fully fit again.
Bruce - whose side are sitting on 11 points from seven matches - said after the 2-1 win on Tyneside: "I nearly played him last week, but a couple of weeks he had tonsillitis, he looked dreadful, so fair play to him.
"He's played the way we know Sean can. There's the standard of what we expect from him.
“I'm delighted with him. He was very, very good."
Bruce withdrew Allan Saint-Maximin towards the end of the game but he allayed any injury fears afterwards in his Press conference.
He said: "He took a knock, but we expect him to be okay.
"Thankfully it's just a dead leg, so it's a kick and we expect him to make a recovery."
