Beardsley Buoyed By Ivan's Return

By Tom Easterby - Newcastle United Club Reporter

Peter Beardsley has welcomed the return to fitness of Ivan Toney, who will make his first appearance in over two months for Newcastle United Under-21s on Wednesday night.

Forward Toney has been sidelined with an ankle ligament injury picked up while training in January, but is part of the United squad who travel south to face the Seagulls in a Barclays Under-21 Premier League clash at Crawley Town's Broadfield Stadium (7pm kick-off).

And Beardsley says that having the former Northampton Town frontman - who has made four appearances for the Magpies' first team since arriving at the Club last summer - available for selection again is a huge boost to his young side, revealing that the 20-year-old is set for a 45-minute cameo against Simon Rusk's Brighton outfit.

"The good news is that it appears that we have Ivan Toney back for half a game, which is a massive plus. He's been different class in the reserves, and he's had a Premier League debut as well, which is a massive plus," said Beardsley.

"It'll be nice to have him back. He's a calming influence on the group. He's a very calm player and a very good player, so it'll be great to have him back.

"(Forty-five minutes) is medically what we've been allowed, and we're not negative about that. We actually gave him the option - 'do you want to go and play half a game or would you rather stay here and train?' I want to play half a game, he said, and can I get 60 minutes?

"He's that sort of kid. He's a superstar, and we'll definitely get half a game out of him which will be massive. It's a big bonus."

United return to league action following the 2-2 friendly draw with Canadian side FC Edmonton, in which Beardsley's charges took a two-goal lead thanks to strikes from Luke Charman and Callum Roberts.

And the Magpies legend lauded the impact of debutant striker Charman, who swept home Callum Williams' cross to open the scoring before playing a supporting role in Roberts' fine strike.

"The good thing from Friday is that Luke Charman, having not played for the under-21s before, got his debut and scored a goal. It was a brilliant dummy for Callum's goal too, so there's lots of positives, and there always is," said Beardsley.

"In that sense, it was good for Luke to get a chance, and to be fair to him he took his chance. But for Ivan coming back, he would be starting on Wednesday."

The Brighton side Beardsley and his team will come up against on Wednesday have endured a difficult season, currently sitting rock-bottom of Division Two.

But United's football development manager believes the Seagulls' footballing principles mean his youngsters will be in for a test when they line up against Rusk's side in Crawley.

"It's a good trip for us. It's a long way, Brighton, but it's a good one for us," said Beardsley.

"They're very organised, they have a way of playing. They're good to play against because they play football as well, so we're looking forward to going there."

Follow @NUFC on Twitter for updates from Wednesday's Barclays Under-21 Premier League fixture against Brighton (7pm kick-off).