Dan Burn now shares what coach Jason Tindall told him during Newcastle victory

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Newcastle were excellent as they beat Sheffield United 8-0 at Bramall Lane, and they were clearly 100% focused until the final whistle blew.

One moment whilst Newcastle were leading 7-0 stood out to viewers, as assistant manager Jason Tindall handed defender Dan Burn a sheet of paper.

Given the scoreline, any major tactical changes would have been surprising, but Eddie Howe was clearly very much in favour of seeing out the huge victory with a clean sheet, as it has now emerged that the team changed formation at this stage.

Speaking to Chris Sutton on BBC 5 Live Sport, Burn revealed that the sheet he was handed by Tindall included tactical instructions as Newcastle switched from a back four to a back five.

“It was a change of formation,” Burn stated when asked about the paper.

Sutton then quizzed Burn about whether Tindall was unable to communicate the instructions verbally instead.

“Probably, I think that’s something you’d have to ask JT! It was a change of formation, we went to a back five, so it was little bits of information about pressing.”

Perfect use of the squad

Eddie Howe received some criticism at the start of this season for the lack of opportunities handed to some of Newcastle’s backup players, but the victory at Sheffield United saw the perfect mixture of rotation in between the games against AC Milan and Manchester City.

Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall both appeared off the bench, with the two summer signings yet to start this season, and Kieran Trippier and Bruno Guimaraes were allowed to rest once the game had been effectively won.

It now remains to be seen what kind of lineup Howe will pick for the Carabao Cup clash against the Champions, but he will keep Newcastle’s busy fixture list in mind and could possibly hand Hall or Livramento a first start.