Newcastle United defender Jamaal Lascelles has admitted he would "not be here" without Nottingham Forest.
Lascelles came through the academy at Forest and made 66 appearances for Forest before leaving for Newcastle in 2014 alongside Karl Darlow. He has now made over 200 appearances for Newcastle over seven years, six of them as captain, and has established himself as a Premier League defender.
He will come up against his boyhood club on the opening day of the Premier League season this Saturday, when Forest travel to Newcastle United. Speaking ahead of the game, Lascelles has credited Forest for getting him to where he is today, though admitted he is "focused on beating" Steve Cooper's Reds.
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"Nottingham Forest is a huge club, and there's a lot of history and obviously I am in the position I'm in because of them," Lascelles told ChronicleLive. "Ultimately, without them, I'd not be here. I came up through the ranks. It's a special place and a special team but now I am focused on just playing the game and beating them."
Looking ahead to the match at St. James' Park on Saturday, Lascelles added: "Teams that get promoted, it can always go two ways. Hopefully, we can get up and running and I am glad we are at home because that will make a big difference.
"We're all thinking the same way and looking to get off to a good start. We want to see how far we can go and see how well we can do."
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