Joelinton has opened up on Newcastle's difficult week, leadership and how they hope to respond against Crystal Palace

Newcastle United vice-captain Joelinton has opened up on what he has learned from former team-mate and Magpies captain Bruno Guimaraes that he can apply to his leadership role this term.

The Brazil international made his first start of the season after missing the first couple of months of the campaign through injury.

It was a tough blow for the 30-year-old to take, particularly after new head coach named him as Newcastle's vice-captain on the eve of the new season in a revamp of the club's leadership group.

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Newcastle captain and vice captain Guimaraes and Kieran Trippier both left the club in the summer to join Arsenal and Wolves respectively and Dan Burn was named the new club captain in their place, with Joelinton stepping up to become vice-captain in his eighth season at St James' Park.

And Joelinton hopes to apply what he has learned from all three of those players as he helps guide some of the younger players in a new-look Newcastle squad this term.

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"He had a lot of qualities. His best quality was always to be there, always present in the moment, always fighting till the end. That's what I'm trying to do," Joelinton told Chronicle Live when asked what he learned most from Guimaraes during his former team-mate's time as Newcastle captain.

"We had other leaders too, great guys like Kieran Trippier in the past, we have Dan Burn, a great leader, and you try to learn something from everyone.

"But the most important thing is just be myself and do the things that I always have done. It's not different for me. The only different thing on Saturday was I had the armband on.

"I always had a good communication with Bruno, Sandro, Longstaff, Willock. I always try to help them on the pitch, I always try to give them the motivation to keep going. I don't think it's changed too much.

"It's not been easy. It's been difficult for me. New season, but I have a similar problem that I had last season and before, so it's been a challenge. I always keep going and just glad to be back now and I hope I can improve. I hope I can help the boys."

Burn also missed the first two months of the season through injury but, like Joelinton, returned to the squad ahead of the defeats to Coventry City and Aston Villa last week.

The 34-year-old has not been fit enough to start yet but Joelinton is hopeful he will be ready for selection ahead of Sunday's trip to South London to take on Crystal Palace.

"We hope so, but it's a question that you have to ask the manager if he's coming back in the starting XI or not," Joelinton replied when asked if Burn is ready to return to the starting XI.

"But, of course, to have him back is a great lift for everybody. He's a great leader, great player, and he's so important for the team."

Newcastle had made a decent start to the season, picking up eight points from their opening five matches and advancing to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.

But the 4-1 defeat at Coventry, followed by a first home loss of the season against Aston Villa has seen some of the underlying worries that had been bubbling underneath the first two months of Newcastle's season come to the surface.

After back-to-back 4-1 defeats away from home and fresh off a difficult week, Sunday's trip to Selhurst Park feels like a big game for Jaissle to flip the mood surrounding Newcastle's recent performances.

Particularly, when you consider they are taking on a Crystal Palace side who were thrashed 5-0 by Brighton last weekend and with pressure growing on their head coach Pierre Sage, too.

And while it is still early in the season, Joelinton did not disagree when asked if Newcastle's game with Crystal Palace can be described as 'must win'.

"Yes, it's difficult but this is football," Joelinton said when asked about the response to the last two defeats. "We have to be positive, we have to have the mindset that things can change quickly.

"When we win, we are not the best team in the world, and when we lose, we're not the worst. That's got to be the mentality to get ourselves up and work hard and keep going.

"Every game is a must-win. We are competitors, we want to win every game. It's football, it's life, sometimes things don't go in your way, sometimes you are not at your best.

"Now it's time to stick together and stay positive and work hard. We hope to have a better performance at the weekend. That's the mindset and always will be. Sometimes, we're down, but football can change quickly and you have to be positive. Today maybe we're down, but Sunday we can be up again and just continue and try to improve every game. Things can change quickly."