Anderson: 'It was definitely a 'pinch me' moment'

"It's been my biggest moment so far", says Anderson, reflecting on his Premier League home debut against tonight's opponents back in September, replacing Ryan Fraser in the latter stages of the English top-flight encounter.

"I think it was Jason Tindall who wanted me to go and warm up on the touchline and then I got told I'd be coming on. I was feeling goosebumps - I can't really explain it! I was playing in front of fans that I was one day and still am. I thought I had a really positive impact on that game and I really enjoyed it out there.

"It was definitely a 'pinch me' moment. It's hard to control that feeling when you're out on the pitch as you need to get into the game but I think it did get hold of me once it finished. I was walking around the stadium, applauding the fans, and it just hit me."

Anderson's competitive home bow in September has been one of a number of achievements the Geordie midfielder has racked up since the beginning of the 2022/23 campaign, from making a first senior outing at St. James' Park in July's pre-season win against Atalanta to signing a new long-term contract with the club after establishing a regular spot in Eddie Howe's squad.

Newcastle booked their spot in the Carabao Cup Third Round back in August after coming from behind to beat League Two side Tranmere in a 2-1 win at Prenton Park, a cup tie which will live long in Anderson's memory.

"It was my first competitive start for my boyhood club, playing in front of the away fans and my family," he recalls. "I loved it. I took the opportunity, I really enjoyed the game and that feeling of playing and putting the Newcastle shirt on.

Anderson in action on his full competitive debut for his boyhood club

"I think it was the day before in training when I found out I'd be starting - I was straight on the phone to my mum and dad to tell them the news! I was trying to zone in on the feeling of starting and making sure I wasn't too nervous. It was a great feeling.

"I remember it being a tough game with the way Tranmere played. It's always going to be difficult going to places like that but we tried to stick to our plan and the whole feeling when Jamaal (Lascelles) and Chris (Wood) scored was great. Obviously, I'd experienced it last season at Bristol (Rovers) but it did feel different with Newcastle." 

The promising youngster, who celebrated his 20th birthday with a 4-1 win against Southampton on Sunday, was not both when Newcastle reached their last domestic cup final, losing at the hands of Manchester United's 1999 treble-winning side at the old Wembley Stadium. 

Newcastle United, however, is instilled within the Anderson family as Geoff Allen, Elliot's grandfather, was part of the last side to win a major trophy in the 1969 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup triumph over Újpesti Dózsa before suffering an injury which brought an abrupt end to his career at the tender age of 23.

"It's been one of my personal aims to try and follow in my grandad's footsteps," he adds. "He was part of the last Newcastle team to win a trophy and I'm going to try to be part of the next. He got injured quite early on so I want to take his career on further.

"I'd love to be part of a Newcastle team that can do very well in the cup competitions. With the way the club is going at the moment, it's only going in the right direction and I hope to be a partof it, winning trophies and to progress.

"The manager wants us to try and go very far in the cup competitions so everyone will be doing their best to try and get through to the next round."

Sampling his first taste of loan experience last season with Bristol Rovers in January, Anderson registered an eye-catching eight goals and five assists in an impressive spell for the League Two outfit, under the management of former Magpies midfielder Joey Barton.

The spell at the Memorial Stadium proved a beneficial one for Anderson, aged 19 at the time, netting the all important seventh goal in Rovers' 7-0 home thrashing of Scunthorpe on the final day of the season to secure the club's automatic promotion to League One.

"I really enjoyed working under Joey," he says. "He was a great guy and manager who took me under his wing from the first day I joined and it was a crucial time in my first loan spell.

"Joey used to say to me in the hotel before games there's no reason why I can't do it. He'd say say that I'm better than him and he was able to do it. He'd tell me little things to make sure I work hard everyday in training and he wanted me to add goals to my game. In the first few games, I wasn't scoring and then I started scoring a lot once the first one went in."

After completing a successful loan stint at the Gas, as well as representing Scotland in a European Under-21 Championship qualifier against Belgium in June, Anderson reported back to Newcastle for pre-season training ahead of the 2022/23 season along with the likes of Kieran Trippier, Miguel Almirón, and Sven Botman, who had also played for their countries on international duty during the summer.

Determined to make a strong impression on Eddie Howe and the coaching staff at the club's Benton-based training ground, Anderson's fitness levels outshone many of his experienced colleagues, coming out on top in a gruelling bleep test against his exhausted team-mates.

"It was a huge pre-season for me," he reflects. "I knew that when I was going back into it. From the first day, I just thought: 'I haven't got much time to try and stay around here, so I'll do everything I can.' That's the mindset I have. I knew I wasn't going out easy - I had to take it. 

"The experiences I has with Bristol developed me both as a person as well as a player. I moved away from home and I came back into pre-season with a lot of confidence coming off the back of a good season.

"Knowing you've done well and thinking you almost deserve to be around the team is a better feeling than not really knowing if you're going to be involved. It lets you crack on with the football and I think that season made me realise that I should be around it (the first-team) and I could push on from here."

After impressing during pre-season trips in Austria and Portugal, Anderson was rewarded with a spot in United's starting XI during a 1-0 friendly win against Atalanta, walking out before kick-off to the noise of over 40,000 fans at St. James' Park.

Seizing his opportunity with both hands, it was a bright display from Anderson who played a major part in the only goal against the Serie A side - regular Champions League participants in recent years.

"It was a huge moment to play my first senior game at St. James' Park," he recalls. "The other pre-season friendlies were big too, playing against Benfica at the Estádio da Luz, but they weren't the same as that one. It was almost a full stadium and I was quite nervous in the build-up to the game which I think you could see in the first five minutes. Once I settled into and got going, it was a great feeling.

Anderson won the penalty which was converted by Magpies striker Chris Wood

"Being involved in the winning goal is always what you want to do. Going into a game, you want a goal or assist and, luckily, Chris put away the penalty to give us the win.

"I thought I did well. Atalanta are a big club, a good side, so it gave me a bit more motivation to try and do it in the Premier League and once I get my chance, I will use that experience to help me in those games."

With a number of star-studded arrivals to Tyneside this year, Anderson's first full season at first-team level has been a positive and rewarding one of late, with seven Premier League substitute appearances, currently, to his name. 

The fight for places may have intensified following numerous high-profile signings, along with the upturn in form of players since Howe's appointment as head coach, but the club demonstrated strong faith in Anderson with the rewarding of a new long-term contract in September.

"I've learnt a lot," he says. "I've seen players come into the club who I used to watch on the telly! It's crazy but after a few days, you've just got to get used to it because they are your teammates. You have to act like you're normal with them but in fact you do look up to them.

"For example, when Trippier scored that free-kick at the World Cup, I was only 15 years old at the time and I would never have imagined playing in the same team as him now! A lot of the lads have helped me a lot, bringing me in and helping me to improve.

"There's nobody I'd rather work under the gaffer. He helps me every day and I think he's a great manager so I think I could really improve my game further. In training, the information he gets across to you is really good and you are never doing the same drills. You're always thinking about things as he's very big on that side of the game."

Despite a combined total of 96 minutes of Premier League action so far this season, Anderson can count himself unfortunate not to have recorded a maiden goal or assist, or both, in his seven league outings.

Introduced from the bench in a 1-1 draw against Wolves in August, his first English top-flight appearance since his debut away at Arsenal 19 months prior, Anderson's close-range header struck the crossbar which denied him a dream stoppage-time winner at Molineux.

"I couldn't believe it," he says his head slumped. "It was a set-piece and I'd snuck around the back post, thinking I was in, but the ball came across so quickly and it's hit off the top of my head which then hit the bar. I was gutted but I was in the right position so, hopefully, it will go in on another day.

Miguel Almirón was denied a hat-trick against Fulham after, following Anderson's pass, straying into an offside postion

"I'm trying to take every minute I have on the pitch and then try to make it a longer time when I'm next on. Something I've been a bit guilty of is maybe trying too hard when I've came on. That's the tough part of a game, though, when you don't have too much time.

"I've never really doubted myself. Sometimes, when things aren't going well, you can question yourself a bit if it's going to happen or not but you've got to stick with the process and trust it will come one day."

With a city firmly united in the hope for future success, Anderson is among a handful of local lads within the squad living out the dream of every United supporter in one of the club's most exciting periods in recent years. 

The "Geordie Maradona" chant, to the tune of Black Lace's Do The Conga, often rings around St. James' Park on matchdays, which Anderson admits is "something I need to get used to", but the youngster isn't allowing himself to settle in his senior surroundings.

"I've been coming in off the bench but that's not where I want to be," he explains. "I want to be in the starting XI. I'm still working every week to try and get more minutes and hopefully push my way through to achieve that.

"Coming in every day to train and living in Newcastle is great but I want to be playing more. I'm just missing that one feeling of being involved in the team every week and have that feeling of being a big player. 

"I think it will come eventually. I'm still only 20 years old, and hopefully I will get there."