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Beardsley: 'Now Let's Go And Win It'
Written by Newcastle Utd
Peter Beardsley spoke to nufc.co.uk after a pleasing first day at the Hong Kong Soccer Sevens
By Anthony Marshall - Newcastle United Managing Editor
Peter Beardsley has urged his Newcastle United Under-21 side to go out and challenge for the Hong Kong Football Club Citibank Soccer Sevens title on Sunday.
The Magpies won the Happy Valley-based tournament in 2012, and remained unbeaten on Saturday to progress from Group A into the knock-out stages.
United will face Aston Villa in the quarter-finals at 10.12am local time (3.12am GMT) and when asked what he expects from his troops on day two of the competition, Beardsley told nufc.co.uk "We want more of the same.
"It's a bit more important now because we are at the knock-out stage and when you come all this way you want to win.
"The lads want to win, we want to win and at this stage of the competition that is what you set your sights on."
In their group fixtures, Newcastle recorded victories over Singapore Cricket Club and Leicester City, which were sandwiched either side of a goalless draw with local Hong Kong side BC Rangers.
And Beardsley singled out forward Alex Gilliead for special praise following a trio of eye-catching performances.
"I was really happy with the first and third games - against Singapore and Leicester," he continued.
"In the second match I thought we moved the ball a bit too slowly and should have sped it up a bit more, but we have won the group and that was our target at the start of the day.
"Callum Roberts and Alex have looked fantastic, and we knew they would.
"Alex has made all three of Callum's goals, as well as scoring himself. Hopefully it will give Alex a bit of confidence because there's no doubt he has the ability in there, but we have to try and get it out.
"The big pitch and the style of football suits him and he also did a lot of tracking back and defensive work for us. In my opinion, he was our best player on the day."
For unrivalled coverage of the final day of the Hong Kong Football Club Citibank Soccer Sevens, including photos, reports, highlights and reaction, stay logged on to nufc.co.uk throughout Sunday.