Young seeking success against Sunderland

The young Magpies make the short journey to the Academy of Light (kick-off 1pm GMT) for their Premier League 2 clash, aiming to leapfrog their Blacks Cats counterparts with a much-needed victory in Division Two.

Young, who joined Newcastle's youth system at the age of seven, is determined to seal maximum points in an encounter of high significance for the Morpeth-born midfielder.

"It's a massive game," the 20-year-old told nufc.co.uk. "With it being a local derby, I think it's the most important game of the season. You've got to win and it doesn't matter how you play, just as long as you win which will be going for. 

"For us local lads, there's a lot riding on it and we all want to make a big impression and perform well in those matches.

"Personally, I love playing against Sunderland and it's a game I always want to play in. It's also our job to put the emphasis on the lads who have came into the group to tell them how important it is for the team.

"The tempo is a lot faster in the derbies and form goes out of the window. We need to go out and express ourselves, play our normal game, and I think if we do everything we have been working on, we will be able to get a positive result out of it."

Chris Hogg's side suffered a heavy 4-0 defeat in the reverse fixture at the Magpies' Little Benton Academy back in October and Young, who was handed his first taste of senior duty in July after being named on the bench for United's Premier League trip to Manchester City, believes there is unfinished business to attend to.

The central midfielder, who spent the first half of the 2020/21 campaign on loan at League Two Tranmere Rovers, also remains optimistic United's second-string can rise up the league ladders, with Newcastle currently bottom of Division Two on 13 points but only six adrift of the play-off spots.

"We want to bounce back from the defeat against them last year," Young added. "That was the worst game I've ever played in during my time at the Academy and that's something we want to put right.

"That should never happen. As Newcastle, we should not be beaten by Sunderland like we were but we have players back from injury and, hopefully, we should be able to put things right on Monday.

"From my time with the under-23 team over the last few years, we've always had a good push towards the end of the season. Last year, we were seven games unbeaten (before the Coronavirus outbreak) and if we replicate that, we have a really good chance of climbing up the table. 

"First of all, we need to get our standards right everyday in training and in matches too before any of the results come but if we do that, I'm sure they will."