Dan Burn was retrained to become a specialist left-back during Matt Targett's long-term injury worries.
The Geordie defender has had a dream season on the left-hand side of the Newcastle defence with a big decision on the horizon for Eddie Howe coming soon with Targett close to full fitness again after a heel problem. Burn looks odds on to be the team for the Carabao Cup final in what will be the game of his life at Wembley.
When pre-season started the debate was who would partner Sven Botman in the heart of defence and while Fabian Schar has done an admirable job, Burn has made headlines of his own. Discussing his rise from centre-back contender to first choice left-back, with Burn keeping Paul Dummett and Matt Ritchie on the bench despite Targett's injury, Howe spoke about a change in routine at the training ground.
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Howe told Chronicle Live: "Probably at the start, we saw him as a centre-back playing out of position. Matt got ill in the lead up to Fulham so we played Dan there and won the game, then kept the same team the next week.
"Now I don't look at him like that. I look at him as a left-back, I have to. He has played there for so long now. We have trained him in that position and he's worked in that position.
"That was important for him because initially, we played him there with a view to bringing him back inside. He was training as a centre-half then playing as a left-back, only for a week.
"We quickly realised that we needed to train him in that position if he's going to play there again. Then he's been consistently training and working on his game. For me he, he has got better and better."
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