Woodman Happy To Put Holidays On Hold

By Dan King - Newcastle United Digital Editor

He turned 18 in March but unlike many people his age, Freddie Woodman won't be packing his bags for a lads' holiday to Zante or Magaluf this summer.

Newcastle United's hugely promising goalkeeper has been called up for England under-18s' friendly double header against Russia next month, alongside his close friend and Magpies team-mate Adam Armstrong.

The two games in Moscow will be used as part of the Young Lions' preparations for next year's UEFA European Under-19 Championships, with the majority of the squad made up of players who helped England to win the European Under-17 Championships in Malta last summer.

That means Woodman's friends have had to book their vacations without him but the London-born shot-stopper told nufc.co.uk: "That's fine with me.

"I've had to make sacrifices from day one when I moved up to Newcastle, and it's because I want to be a professional footballer, I want to play for Newcastle and I want to play for England.

"I'll make those sacrifices and I'll do what I have to do to become a goalkeeper in the Premier League. That's one of the sacrifices you have to make and my friends and my family understand that.

"When your country calls, you're not going to turn them down for a holiday. It's always an honour to be called up for England to play at any level.

"It should be good - it's an experience to go out to Moscow and play two games against a strong Russian side. And it's nice to drop back to the team who won the Euros and get ready for next season with the under-19s - and try and win that one."

Woodman has already represented his country at under-19 level three times and, although he has yet to make his professional debut, he's been on the bench on several occasions both for Newcastle and during a loan spell with Hartlepool earlier this season.

And he admitted: "I do feel like I'm a senior player when I go away with England, even though we're still the same age.

"This will be my 25th game for England at youth level and this season, being on the bench for the first team has been good. I've learnt a lot from experiences that have happened to the team and that have happened to Tim (Krul).

"I've seen how he deals with situations and I feel like I've learnt a lot this season just through being on the bench for 20 games."

Before joining up with his England colleagues, Woodman flew out to Portugal on Monday for a mini-training camp with his father, United goalkeeping coach Andy.

"I'll try to chill out and get some rest, but I'm also doing a little bit of training with my dad to try and keep busy before I go to Russia so I can stay fit and sharp and really hit next season running," he explained.

"For the international lads, we've got to keep going through the summer but it's nice to be involved in the internationals and do that."