Jack Colback: Newcastle United's new-found character has been key this season; Newcastle United have discovered a way to win this season - and Jack Colback thinks that's down to character in the dressing room.

Byline: Mark Douglas

Newcastle United's dressing room now has the character that has been missing for the past few years.

That is the verdict ofJack Colback, who believes that United have stocked their squad with players able to summon the fight and character required to cope when the going gets tough.

Rafa Benitezintends to overhaul Newcastle's squad by bringing in at least six players who will be able to battle for a starting slot. Benitez could even bring in double figures again this summer as he looks to press on next season, leaving little room for sentiment in the way he builds his squad.

But the one thing that he will want to retain -- whoever comes in -- is the way the squad works together and has been able to cope with adversity this season.

That kind of character was missing in their last season in the Premier League, when they showed they had the talent to live with the big boys without the character to back it up.

"That's a lot to do with the character of the team. I think that was lacking when I first came," Colback said.

"We were lacking that fight, that drive at times when the going gets tough.

"The expectations have been bigger this year. We've been expected to win the league, and rightly so, really, because we're a big club.

"But we've had to cope with that. We've always reacted. We started off slow. That was maybe a wake-up call for us. We've been consistent throughout.

"We've lost probably more games than we'd hoped, but we've finished top of the league so no-one can say anything about that."

Unitedlifted the Championship trophy last week after a memorable campaign that saw them succeed...

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