PLENTY has changed since Jamaal Lascelles last paid a visit to his hometown club – and the most important of them all, from a Newcastle United perspective, is that the Magpies have suddenly remembered how to defend.

Lascelles, now sporting the captain’s armband on his black and white shirt, rather than the Garibaldi red of County’s arch rivals Nottingham Forest, was roundly booed almost every time he got the ball at the iPro Stadium.

The same supporters remember how he rugby tackled a Derby fan who ran on the pitch to confront Forest team-mate Kelvin Wilson on his last visit, but he had the last laugh once more when, just as 21 months ago, he had a victory to savour at the end.

Lascelles, brought up five miles away from the iPro and watched by friends and family, doesn’t care too much about the reaction towards him, he was just bothered about the result.

And, for the fourth game in a row in the Championship, Newcastle illustrated how they have learned how to defend under Rafael Benitez after years of struggling. For the first time since November 2014, the Tynesiders have won five matches in a row and the last four have been secured with clean sheets.

It is 405 minutes since Reading scored a penalty in a 4-1 defeat at St James’ Park on August 27 and teams do not even look like scoring against a new-look squad which has seen 19 players depart and 12 fresh faces arrive since relegation from the Premier League.

“It wasn’t the start we were looking for to the season when we lost the first two but we are starting to gel,” said Lascelles, after an unspectacular display similar to that which earned a win at Bristol City.

“I just think we want it. We were all obviously really upset with being relegated. I think we all really want it a lot so everyone’s giving 100 per cent and making those last-ditch tackles and headers and defending well from the front to the back.”

Derby have struggled so far under Nigel Pearson.

They have scored just once in their opening six league games and Newcastle’s well organised defensive shape never really looked like conceding.

There were a couple of penalty appeals waved away by stand-in referee Darren Bond and goalkeeper Matz Sels had to be alert to turn away a Craig Bryson effort in the second half, but by and large the backline effectively stifled the home team’s advances.

That laid the foundation for the win, with the rejuvenated Yoan Gouffran marking another impressive display with a stunning goal – his first since the same day as Lascelles forced the fan to the ground on January 17, 2015.

Gouffran watched Jonjo Shelvey’s free-kick float over the head of everyone else in the penalty area before meeting it with a delightful low, right-foot volley at the back post which left former England goalkeeper Scott Carson with no chance.

Lascelles said: “The thing I like with Gouffran, last season he could easily have spat the dummy out, not trained well.

“OK he wasn’t getting selected that much but he stuck at it, patient, which has probably been really hard for him because he’s a senior player. Rafa’s given him a chance and he’s grabbed it with both hands.

“Gouff does a lot for the team that goes unnoticed, he does a lot defensively. He’s a massive player for us and I congratulate him for the goal. It was a smashing finish.”

There was so much confidence running through the team in a defensive sense that Newcastle never looked like relinquishing that lead. They could have done with adding to it before they did in stoppage time, and there was a lack of chances created, even if there was a swagger about aspects of their play..

Shelvey sent in a delivery, substitute Ayoze Perez volleyed back across goal and DeAndre Yedlin, along with Derby full-back Martin Olsson, helped the ball over the line.

Lascelles, sporting a satisfactory smile after the game, said: “I don’t mind the boos. It revs me up a bit to be honest.

“I can’t imagine they’re too fond of me but that’s football for you.

“We came here to be professional, we’re not going to get carried away.

“It doesn’t really matter, who the other team is, if we play how we know we can we will win matches and that’s what is important.”