Dan Burn: Senior Newcastle United stars 'to keep drivin...

Firstly, I’d like to pay respects to Kevin Keegan. I was very lucky to meet him a couple of times and was really shocked to hear the sad news. For what he did for Newcastle, it was a little bit before my time but everyone tells me how he brought them from what they were to ‘the Entertainers’. We wouldn’t be sat here today without his influence on the club.

It’s very, very sad, for his family, for Jean, and his kids. He was always loved, but now you can see – there’s never a bad word spoken about Kevin from anyone. The Liverpool game next week will be a very emotional game for everyone at both clubs and I hope he gets the send-off he deserves.

I’m excited to be back in the building this week. Obviously there’s been a lot of change with staff and players, so coming back it feels like I’m signing for a new club!

I’ve spoken to the new Head Coach and he’s got new ideas of what he wants to do. I’m happy to contribute towards that and push the lads. I said to him that I’d be there for anything he needed regarding the lads, the city or anything else. It’s not long until the season starts so it’s about making the transition as smooth as possible.

Change is healthy sometimes. It’s going to take a little bit of time, we’re in a little bit of transition. And it’s an exciting time to be a part of.

There’s a big responsibility on the senior players who are left to keep driving the standards we’ve set for the last four or five years while also seeing what Matthias’ non-negotiables are and how he wants to do things.

It’s a good opportunity for all the lads – now it’s a clean slate to put an impression in, and the lads who have been playing are going to have to lift their game again to make sure they play.

We’ve signed some exciting new players who have arrived over the summer. It’s freshened things up a bit, hopefully they’re given the time to adapt to the Premier League – it’s tough when you’ve not played here before but hopefully they hit the ground running. Again, it’s up to us senior lads to help the new guys through.

These pre-season weekends are a good way for us to fine-tune things before the start of the season. It’s also good for the new lads to get used to playing in the stadium, knowing that the Liverpool game is coming and the atmosphere will be electric.

I’m sure the fans will give everyone a big reception, it’s the Coach’s first games as well. I’m sure you will really get behind the lads and push us through to the start of the season.

Make sure to pick up your copy of the new-look UNITED programme this weekend, featuring: