'Gigantic performance': Eddie Howe sings the praises of 31-year-old Newcastle man after impressive display

Eddie Howe had to make four changes to his starting lineup as Newcastle United took on Everton last night as well as tweaking the position of a big player.

Newcastle's injury list welcomed a few new additions after the game on Saturday with Tino Livramento, Miguel Almiron and Jamaal Lascelles all adding themselves to the casualty list, which meant that Eddie Howe had some changes to make for last night's game against Everton.

Elliot Anderson, Lewis Hall and Emil Krafth replaced the injured trio while Harvey Barnes stepped in for the suspended Anthony Gordon. To accommodate these changes, Dan Burn was moved back to his more familiar centre-back role after being deployed as a left-back for the past two seasons at Newcastle.

It was clearly a move that suited the big Geordie as he ended up having one of his best games of the season.

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Burn will likely play the rest of the season at centre-back

The 31-year-old giant from Blyth has come in for a lot of criticism this season as his lack of pace has often led to the opposition taking full advantage by putting him up against rapid wingers who are able to get past him with ease.

However, with Hall covering left-back, Burn was back to the position we originally bought him to play in, and he looked all the better for it. He made a couple of outstanding tackles, and, wearing the captain's armband for the night, led by example.

With Jamaal Lascelles and Sven Botman out for the rest of the season, we will probably see more of Dan Burn at centre-back with Lewis Hall deployed on the left, and it's something that could actually benefit Newcastle in the run-in.

Dan Burn was unlucky to not be on the scoresheet

Eddie Howe told NUFC TV after the game that he was very pleased with the performance of his stand-in captain.

"Gigantic performance from Dan. He really needed to stand up to the aerial bombardment that they deliver, and I thought he did that. But also on the ground, I thought he covered spaces really well, he was very brave in a couple of situations, I thought. It was an outstanding performance from him."

Burn was also unlucky not to get on the scoresheet after his goal was disallowed for a tight offside as Alexander Isak stepped up a fraction too early as Newcastle took a clever free-kick.