'You can see' - Former Newcastle United forward makes Lewis Miley and Elliot Anderson predictions

Former Newcastle United forward Adam Campbell believes Magpies prospect Lewis Miley is ‘in good hands’ working under Eddie Howe.

The England Under-19 midfielder has enjoyed a rapid rise through the United ranks after making his senior debut as a substitute in a 1-1 draw at Chelsea on the final day of last season.

Miley was a prominent feature in Eddie Howe’s plans during pre-season as he made eye-catching displays in wins against Gateshead and Rangers before shining in Premier League Summer Series meetings with Chelsea and Brighton.

Miley has continued to rack up a number of landmarks during his first full season in the senior setup at St James Park after earning a first senior start in the Carabao Cup third round win against Manchester City and a first Premier League start in the defeat at Bournemouth earlier this month.

The talented midfielder wrote his name into the club’s record books when he came off the bench in the Champions League defeat at Borussia Dortmund to become the youngest ever Magpies player to feature in European competition.

That record had previously belonged to Campbell after he featured in a Europa League tie against Greek club Atromitos in August 2012 in the first of four senior appearances for a Magpies side managed by Alan Pardew.

Campbell knows all about the pressures of being a highly-rated talent coming through the ranks at St James Park and he believes Miley and other Magpies prospects that will follow in future face major challenges ahead as they look to force their way into Eddie Howe’s plans on a regular basis.

“I think it will be a lot tougher for academy lads to break through with everything going on at the club,” he told NewcastleWorld.

“Maybe not in the next two or three years, but in the coming years when there is more investment in the first-team and it’s more like Man City, it will be difficult. It was difficult to become a first-team player before the takeover, there was really only Sean Longstaff and Dummy (Paul Dummett) that have done that.

“There was a lot of hype around what was going on with my situation and it’s difficult. For me and my family, it was the first time anyone had experienced that so we weren’t sure how to handle it. It was all new and that’s something I would take away from it, not as a positive or negative, it was just so different.

“There were mistakes, it was a learning process and it can be difficult to navigate. You can’t listen to the supporters and media saying you should be playing because you’ve just got to focus on what those around you are telling you. You can see with Elliot Anderson and how they’ve handle that situation, Eddie has been really good, he’s taking care of them and clearly Lewis and Elliot are in good hands.”

Campbell’s time at his boyhood club came to an end when he was released by Newcastle just under three years after making that historic European appearance in Greece. Since then, he has appeared for the likes of Notts County, Morecambe and Darlington, before a successful stint at Gateshead saw the forward helped the Heed to the National League North title.

Campbell continued to play a lead role in helped a Gateshead side managed by former Magpie Mike Williamson preserved their National League status and was also part of the side that walked out at Wembley in last season’s FA Trophy Final. His form at the International Stadium, where he scored 33 goals in 106 games, led to a move back into the Football League as he penned a one-year deal at League Two club Crawley Town.

Yet boyhood Newcastle supporter Campbell has always looked back on representing his club with great pride and admitted he had mixed emotions over losing his record as the Magpies youngest ever player in European competition to Miley.

He said: “It’s nice to have a record for the club you’ve always supported so it was a shame from a personal point of view.

“But everyone knew when the takeover happened, there would be European football and there would be a young talent coming through that would break that record. Equally, it was always going to be broken, so whether it was ten or twenty years, someone was always going to break it.

“When we played against Newcastle in pre-season, he was really confident, he’s a good size and it’s the natural progression for him to play more first-team football. It’s good to see a local lad doing it and that’s maybe just the North East lad in me.”