Academy. Murphy motivated for Canaries clash

alex-murphy
Published
20 Aug 22

Alex Murphy is determined for Newcastle United Under-21s to register their first Premier League 2 win of the season ahead of Sunday's trip to Norwich City.

The young Magpies make the long journey to Norfolk this weekend, taking on the Canaries' second-string at the Lotus Training Centre (kick-off 2pm BST) as they bid to bounce back from their opening two defeats against West Bromwich Albion and Stoke City.

Murphy, who joined the Magpies from hometown club Galway United in July, believes the two losses have not justified the team's performances and is keen to make amends by recording maximum points.

The versatile defender, who has captained Republic of Ireland at under-18 level, told nufc.co.uk: "We've been really frustrated not to pick up at least a point from our first two games because I think we've deserved that at least. We're looking forward to trying to get three points because of that.

"Even losing 2-1, conceding two in the last minute when we were cruising up till then, was annoying and then going down to nine men in the end against Stoke, we felt we could have earned a good result even with two players sent off.

"The coaches were happy with our efforts with nine men, giving everything and running our hearts out. We could have taken something but hopefully we can get the three points against Norwich.

"We can't wait for the game and want to show we're not as bad as the results say. If you look at them, people may think we're not doing well but we've played well enough. The results just haven't come but we aim to change that on Sunday."

Murphy - who made his first-team debut for Galway in 2021 at the tender age of 16, travelled with the Magpies' first-team for their pre-season trip to Portugal last month and was also named on the bench for both friendly fixtures against Atalanta and Athletic Club at St. James' Park.

The Irishman - who scored his first goal for Newcastle's under-21 side during a pre-season friendly against Blackburn Rovers' second-string last month - revealed he is settling quickly into his new surroundings since linking up with the Magpies' under-21 side this summer.

"I'm loving my time at Newcastle," the 18-year-old centre-back added. "The standard is a lot higher and I'm really enjoying it, both in training and matches. I love the city and where I'm living too so it's been an enjoyable start to my time here.

"I've been playing training matches with the first-team which has been a good experience. It's always good playing against them and learning from it.

"When you're coming up against quality Premier League players such as (Allan) Saint-Maximin and others, you're only going to improve and get better from playing against them more often."

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