Stanton targeting Terriers triumph in Premier League Cup opener

The young Magpies, who reached the final of the competition in 2019, face their Terriers counterparts at the John Smith’s Stadium (kick-off 7pm BST) and Stanton is looking forward to a number of competitive fixtures for Newcastle’s youngsters, who will play five matches this month whilst an under-19 side are also set to play their opening UEFA Youth League fixture against AC Milan next week.

The versatile midfielder, who signed his first professional contract with United in the summer of 2022, told nufc.co.uk: "It’s the first game in the (Premier League) Cup and there’s something for us to build on to then push on in the league. If we do well from there, we can take confidence into the next game. We have a lot of games to come so we want to start well on Wednesday.

“I think it would be good to get off to a winning start and get back to winning ways. We can take a lot of positives from the game against Wrexham (a narrow 1-0 defeat in the EFL Trophy). We showed what we can do and I don’t think we should’ve lost that game as we had enough chances to win it.

“I enjoyed it. It was good to get on the pitch, especially in a game like that and we were unlucky not to get the result we wanted in the end. I think all of the lads are looking forward to all of the games we’ll play and I believe we have enough quality to pick up a lot of positive results."

Stanton, who joined the Magpies’ youth set-up at the age of eight, scored twice in his opening three league matches at under-18 level last term before missing a large portion of the 2022/23 campaign after sustaining a meniscus (tearing of the knee) injury.

The 18-year-old admitted it was a difficult spell on the sidelines due to his long-term injury but believed the tough setback acted as motivation through his long road to full recovery.

The Farringdon-born teenager added: “I think it’s good for me now to try and play as many games as possible given how many I missed last season.

“For me, I need to keep doing what I’m doing in training, stay fit and I'll get more opportunities as they come. I feel like I’ve been doing well in training and not picking up more injuries which is good from a fitness point of view.

“I injured my meniscus twice and I was out for about six months. I needed surgery, which I got and from then on it was a case of getting fit as soon as possible but I'd injured it again.

“It was tough, especially seeing the lads playing and thinking how good it would be to be back playing. I think that pushed me on, though, to get back as quickly as possible. Now that I’ve had the injuries, it’s time to move forward.

“I think I’ve got mentally stronger from it. Anything I think about, I know I’ve recovered from that so why couldn’t I recover from something else."