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Miley seeking Sunderland success after five-month injury lay-off
Jamie Miley is determined for Newcastle United Under-21s to come out on top against Sunderland ahead of Monday's Premier League 2 clash (kick-off 1pm GMT).
The young Magpies make the short trip to Wearside aiming to enhance their pursuit of a top 16 spot at the end of the 2023/24 season when facing their Black Cats counterparts at the Academy of Light.
Newcastle's second-string face two fixtures against North east neighbours this week, travelling to Middlesbrough on Friday, 22nd March and Miley, who featured for Magpies' first-team during their Premier League Summer Series campaign in the United States in July, is targeting a professional approach ahead of facing their local rivals.
The 20-year-old central midfielder told nufc.co.uk: "It's a game you always look forward to when the fixture list is revealed at the start of the season. You're always checking when the local derbies are and it's a big one we're looking forward to playing in.
"We can't get too ahead of ourselves and treat it like any other game and in our stride as we don't want to get too hyped up and change the way we play or how we think towards it. We will stick to our game plan and hopefully things will go well during it.
"Being at the FA Cup game (at the Stadium of Light), you always want to beat Sunderland. It's massive. It's normally a battle at the start but then the footballing side starts to come through so we need to make sure we are as strong as possible.
"There is a lot more tension and you want to come out on the winning side."
After sustaining a lateral knee ligament injury in October during a UEFA Youth League clash against Borussia Dortmund, Miley expressed his delight in returning to playing action last week following a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
The Stanley-born youngster, brother of Lewis, is now aiming to make up for lost time as the young Magpies enter the final stages of the 2023/24 campaign.
"I'm really happy to be back on the pitch," he added. "I was saying to my dad it seemed like it took so long for me to get back but then, thinking about it now, it feels like it has flown over which is good.
"The closer you get back to playing again, the longer it feels so I'm delighted and I'm hoping to stay as fit as possible and get as many minutes in before the end of the season.
"After playing in the UEFA Youth League and in the Premier League 2, captaining the under-21s, it was all going so well before taking turn for the worst. That can happen in football, though, and you have to get on with that.
"I couldn't look at it as a negative. It was more of a positive thing that I could do stuff in the gym and build relationships with people off the pitch. I want to make sure I build myself back up and get myself back to where I was at the beginning of the season."