Youngster Woodman Hails Squad Leadership

By Anthony Marshall - Newcastle United Managing Editor

Freddie Woodman has hailed the influence and leadership of Newcastle United's senior stars in helping him and his fellow rookies bed in to the Magpies' first team squd.

The teenage goalkeeper is part of United's party which is currently touring America, and caught the eye with an impressive display in between the sticks against Sacramento Republic on Saturday,

And while the likes of Woodman, Adam Armstrong, Rolando Aarons and Lubomir Satka have just a handful of first team appearances under their belts, they feel right at home thanks to those around them.

"It's amazing being a young player in this squad," the 18-year-old stopper told nufc.co.uk.

"The amount of leaders and people you've got to help you is immense,"

"I've worked with Tim (Krul) for a long time now. He's taken me under his wing and I base everything I want to do towards Tim, and he sets the standards I want to achieve.

"It showed against Sacramento. The way he performed in the first half made me want to perform like that when I came on.

"There's leaders all over the squad though, and I could go through the whole team picking out good people who are willing to help the young lads like me. That sort of help and advice is invaluable"

When Woodman stepped off the substitutes' bench for the second half at Bonney Field, he had a tough act to follow.

Tim Krul had kept Newcastle in the contest against Sacramento Republic with a string of outstanding saves, but the youngster produced heroics of his own wth some brilliant stops to ensure a clean sheet.

And with the Magpies having to play the final 25 minutes with ten men, Woodman believes the friendly fixture will have been a good learning experience for the squad.

"It was good to get another 45 minutes under my belt for the first team - my second game now," he continued.

"It's what I wanted. I wanted to make saves, I wanted to pass, I wanted to show what I'm about. It was very tough and felt like the 45 went on for ages.

"The tone Tim set in the first half, I had to go out there and match it, and I felt I did well.

"I had a few saves which I will look back at and review them with the coach, Tim and Karl (Darlow). We will go through it all and see what they have to say but I felt like I had a good night.

"I thought the sending off (of Massadio Haidara) was a bit of a harsh one, especially in a pre-season game, but playing with ten men for a long period like that is all good experience.

"Players get sent-off in the Premier League so we could maybe get a lot more from the match than if we had 11 on the pitch for the whole game."