Newcastle United poached Manchester City ace - now desperate for St James’ Park success

A resounding 7-1 win over Reading earlier this month confirmed the young Magpies will make the Premier League 2 play-offs. The end-of-season climax sees the top 16 clubs pitted against each other in a seeded format to decide the 2024-25 champions.

For example, first-placed Man City are currently set to face Everton, who sit 16th. As it stands, Newcastle are to be drawn against Arsenal, with both clubs ninth and eight respectively.

The Magpies’ fate will be confirmed following the daunting clash at Man City tonight. A former academy product at Eastlands, Harrison - who has six assists in his last nine appearances - is eager to impress.

Newcastle signed the 19-year-old last February for an undisclosed fee that could total £3.5million if specific permutations are met. Toon fans got a first glimpse of Harrison in the senior setup when he played the Sela Cup clash with Stade Brestois last summer. 

Ahead of tonight’s trip to City, the youngster is keen to use his goal and assist against Reading at St James’ Park a week ago as motivation for more. He told the club website: "It was nice to get another assist so I can get to the top of the list and, hopefully, stay there by getting even more. I can't think about it too much, though, and I need to keep playing my game. It was a top win against Reading. We didn't start off the greatest but we finished off in the right way. 

“It was great to score my first goal at the stadium as well as an assist and have a good game. It was a good day all-round. In the final third aspect, we did everything we could but there were certain bits at the start which could've been improved and playing better as a team.

"It was a different role I was doing but I was still coming into play as a midfielder on the right wing. It's always nice to get a goal or assist as that is one big part of my game, creating. Since Christmas, I've been playing more and I always back my ability when I play and try to play to the best of it."

Despite sitting ninth in the table, Harrison believes Newcastle can win the competition once the play-offs commence later this month. He added: "It was good to qualify for the play-offs as it gives us a chance to get more games which is what everybody wants and a better opportunity to try and win the competition. 

“For us, it's a chance to finish as high as possible. It's against a tough opposition and it's a massive game for them because if they win, they finish top of the league so we'll have to do everything in our power to try and win.

"We've been working day in, day out and Diarmuid (O'Carroll) helped us to try and put things right as a team, playing good football and creating more chances. There have been a few games we could've done better in but we've played really well in our last four matches and managed to pick up four wins."

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