Academy. Miley aiming to earn his Spurs

Jamie Miley U21s v Spurs preview
Published
23 Aug 24
Team
U21

Jamie Miley admitted there is a "good positivity" amongst the Newcastle United Under-21s squad ahead of Sunday's Premier League 2 trip to Tottenham Hotspur (kick-off 1pm BST).

The young Magpies face their Spurs counterparts, who won last season's Premier League 2 title, at the Lamex Stadium, home of League One outfit Stevenage FC.

United's second-string kicked off their Premier league 2 campaign with a 1-1 draw against rivals Sunderland on Monday and Miley, who made his full senior debut during Newcastle's pre-season victory against Hull City last month, is determined for the squad - consisting of a number of new first year pros - to prevail in their opening away fixture of the 2024/25 season.

The 20-year-old midfielder told newcastleunited.com: "It's a similar mindset to the Sunderland game and making sure we stick to our plan. We know we had a difficult result last time against Tottenham ( a 4-1 defeat), getting caught up in their game instead of playing our own, so it's more of the fact of sticking to what we've learnt and know.

"Performing away from home is something we can improve on from last season. Not getting into the play-offs was disappointing but there's always the chance to get it this season which is want we want to do, finishing as high in the table as we can.

"We have a tight-knit group and everyone has bonded very well. You see each other around the Academy but, once you're in the same dressing room together, people that haven't spoke as much are really close friends within the building and there's a good positivity amongst the group."

Miley, who joined United's Academy in 2014, reflected on United's Tyne-Wear derby against Sunderland, which saw defensive duo Kieran Trippier and Matt Targett play the opening 45 minutes at Whitley Park.

The Stanley-born youngster, brother of Lewis, took numerous positives against their local rivals albeit conceding in the latter stages of their Premier League 2 opener.

"It's always good to have senior lads playing, especially Tripps who is a real leader on and off the pitch," he added. "Before the game, he was building up all the lads in the dressing room and he has that quality.

"Matt leads by example on the pitch, never giving the ball away and you get that bit more confidence to go and prove yourself even more.

"I said to the lads after the game that it was disappointing to concede the goal but you can't look at that because you had to see what we did throughout the whole game and it could have been more than what it was before they scored.

"Most importantly, we played well and played the way we wanted, dominating through large parts and it's about taking the chances to kill the game off."

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