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De Bolle seeking Senior Cup semi-finals
Written by Luke Vinton
Ahead of Newcastle United Under-23s' Northumberland Senior Cup quarter-final tie away at Ashington, Lucas de Bolle is aiming for the young Magpies to continue their unbeaten run.
United's second-string, who won the trophy a record 38 times, make the trip to Woodhorn Lane on Tuesday night (kick-off 7.30pm GMT) to face the Northern League Division One outfit, aiming to book their place in the last-four.
After undergoing four games unbeaten in all competitions, including three successive victories, De Bolle - who signed his first professional contract for his boyhood club last summer - is hopeful Newcastle's youngsters can extend their positive form against the Colliers, who compete in the ninth tier of English football.
"We're very determined to continue our unbeaten run," the 19-year-old midfielder told nufc.co.uk: "I think the more competitions we are in, there's more chance of us winning trophies.
"We're in a good position to get out of our group in the Premier League Cup as well after beating Watford (on Friday) so confidence is high going into the Senior Cup game too.
"It's always a tough test against senior opposition and away at their place. They're a part-time team so normally the pitches aren't as good which will be a challenge and we're going up against physical players that we aren't normally used to.
"As a group, we're ambitious and we have three goals this season; to get as far as we can in the Premier League Cup, make the (Premier League 2) play-offs and win the Senior Cup."
After netting his maiden goal at under-23 level in Newcastle's 2-1 victory against Watford in the Premier League Cup group stages, de Bolle - who can play in the middle of the park as well as on the left wing - is now bidding to add to his goal tally.
"I was very pleased to score my first goal for the under-23s. It took quite a while long time but I felt it coming in the last couple of games.
"Whenever you score, your confidence is raised. Knowing the feeling of scoring and knowing you can do it gives you the platform and opportunity to keep trying to find the back of the net.
"We were very pleased to come away with three points against Watford, especially after the win against Sunderland," the Edinburgh-born youngster added.
"We want to keep the momentum going into the new year, with a couple of games left before Christmas. We played very well against Watford, apart from conceding in the last minute, so we were happy with the team performance."