Mbabu Starts And Shines

By Dominic Scurr

Kevin Mbabu described his full Newcastle debut as "an amazing experience" following Saturday's 2-2 draw at home to Chelsea.

Having stepped off the bench in midweek in the Capital One Cup, the 20-year-old was handed a starting spot for the visit of the Premier League champions.

And despite being deployed in an unfamiliar left-back role, the defender put in an assured performance against a star-studded Blues side.

"It's a really good feeling to play my first game in the league, it was an amazing experience," Mbabu told nufc.co.uk.

"I was a little bit nervous during the warm-up but once the game started and I got going, everything was good."

The Swiss defender has gone from playing in the Magpies' under-21s to holding his own against Chelsea in just a matter of weeks - but Mbabu took it all in his stride.

"When you're facing the likes of Pedro, Hazard and Willian, you're going to be nervous because they're all really big players with a lot of experience," he continued.

"But I just told myself to keep calm, treat it like any other game and I think that worked well for me.

"We played really well so it's disappointing not to win the game especially when you are winning 2-0 so late on.

"It was very important for everybody to perform because we haven't had a good week, but we showed everyone what we're capable of and I think we did very well.

"Overall it's still a great point for us and it's going to give us confidence going into the next game."