THIS has been a challenging season for Dan Burn and with a struggle for form earlier in the campaign came criticism - but the towering defender shrugged it off in a manner that didn't surprise Eddie Howe but still impressed the head coach enormously.

Burn was missing for a month at the end of last year with a back injury and after returning to action struggled to rediscover the form which had seen him establish himself as a major player for Howe's Magpies.

But the 31-year-old is as mentally strong as any player Howe has coached and rather than be criticised, as was the case earlier in the campaign, Newcastle's boss believes Burn should be celebrated.

And how crucial Burn has been in the last week or so.

He's played most of his football at left-back since joining from Brighton two years ago but after both Sven Botman and Jamaal Lascelles suffered serious knee injuries, Burn has slipped seamlessly and impressively over into the heart of the defence, where he'll play today against his former club Fulham.

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“It's difficult for me to comment on his behalf, but I think it's difficult for any player if they're getting criticism," says Howe, looking back on Burn's testing spell earlier this year.

“I'm sure the players will know the processes they need to do to stay away from it for their own feeling and their own psychology.

“Sometimes when you get your processes right, you still hear things, you still have to absorb it, and then you need the mental strength to cope with that and come back and deliver good performances.

“Dan is as mentally strong a player as I've seen, he's very robust, he's experienced, he's a leader and I'm really, really pleased because for me, we should be celebrating players like Dan, we should be saying how good he is and how well he's done for this football club.

“I genuinely believe that with every fibre that I have, that he's been incredible.

“You can't guarantee your players will play well every week, but what you can ask is that they give you their all and they commit to everything you ask them to do and they give their best for the football club, and Dan's certainly in that bracket."

Howe wants to protect his players from "outside criticism" as best as he can - particularly on social media.

He said: "It depends where the critique is coming from. Now, the trouble with social media and that kind of feedback is it's faceless.

“You have no idea where the opinion is coming from, if the opinion is valid and that's why I'd say to the players they're better off keeping their circle of friends very, very small and listen to the people that they really trust and believe in and that way, I think you'll get honest feedback and you get the type of feedback that you need.

“If you open yourself up to to many opinions, with all due respect, a lot of people would not have the intellect to give a proper assessment."