First-team debut "a special feeling", says Turner-Cooke

Turner-Cooke, who joined the Magpies' Academy from Sunderland in January 2021, was introduced from the substitutes' bench in the final minutes of United's 5-0 triumph over the Saudi Pro League champions, the most decorated club in Asia, at the Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium.

The 18-year-old attacking midfielder was one of three youngsters to make his first-team bow for Eddie Howe's side, with Irish defender Alex Murphy and 16-year-old Lewis Miley also appearing as second-half substitutes.

"It was an unbelievable feeling," the South Shields-born youngster told nufc.co.uk. "To say I've made my first-team debut for Newcastle is something you dream of as a kid. To do it at such a young age alongside a lot of my idols I grew up watching was a special feeling.

"I was just trying to get a touch on the ball. The manager loves high intensity and I was trying to press from midfield and keep it simple as we were 5-0 up at the time. I thought I did well in the ten minutes.

"It was great to share that moment with a few of the young lads who I've played with for a couple of years in the under-21s group. It was a mad feeling when I was playing against the likes of (Odion) Ighalo in midfield with Joe (White) and Elliot (Anderson).

"I came off the pitch and rang my dad straight after full-time, saying I want this all the time. I want to be playing on this kind of stage in front of thousands and thousands of people. I'm confident in my ability to do that so I need to keep grounded, work hard and hopefully I can gain more chances.

"It was a brilliant experience. It's what you want to do as a kid and trying to better and challenge yourself against the best players. I'm confident in myself that I'm good enough to be there so when I go there, I need to show what I can do and try to impress."

Newcastle United Under-21s are set to play their final game of 2022 on Monday afternoon when they face their Crystal Palace counterparts in their penultimate Premier League Cup Group E fixture at Champion Hill, home of National League South side Dulwich Hamlet.

United's second-string may be unable to secure qualification to the knockout stages following four defeats in a group involving Palace, Bristol City and Sheffield United but Turner-Cooke, who featured as a second-half substitute in the Magpies' 2-1 friendly win against Rayo Vallecano on Saturday, is hopeful of restoring pride and ending a winless run of seven games across all competitions.

He added: "The last six games haven't went to plan so we'll be aiming to try and put that right against Palace. It's a much needed win and we want to go down there and put in a good performance to, hopefully, gain three points.

"As a team, we thought we should have got a lot more out of it as we created a lot of chances, particularly in the second half. We were very disappointed to come away with a defeat so when we go down there, we'll try to get a bit of payback. 

"We don't want to finish our Premier League Cup group with zero points. As a team, we know we're so much better than that so, in the next two games, we'll aim to perform well and restore some confidence within the squad going into the second-half of the season."