Siem de Jong asked to play for Newcastle's under-21s on Monday night because he wants to be "ready when the opportunity comes to start in the first team"



By Dan King - Newcastle United Digital Editor



He has played for his country, won league titles and scored in the Champions League, but on Monday night Siem de Jong asked to play in a second-string match in the fog, in front of just 909 spectators.

There's no doubt that the 26-year-old former Ajax captain would prefer to be more prominently involved in Newcastle United's Barclays Premier League campaign than he has been so far. But rather than sulk about being restricted to just 107 minutes in the top flight this term, De Jong told Steve McClaren and Peter Beardsley that he would like to play for the Magpies' under-21s against Aston Villa in order to remain as sharp as possible for the games to come.

For the likes of 18-year-old Callum Roberts, who scored both goals against the Villans, Gateshead-born teenager Daniel Barlaser and former Northampton youngster Ivan Toney, playing alongside a Holland international would have been an invaluable experience.

Seeing his intelligent runs at such close quarters, or watching how he controls the ball, or the way he started the move which led to the first goal by winning a 50-50 ball on the edge of the opposition's box, can only make them better players. But De Jong's view says a lot about the man: "They're helping me!".

Newcastle ran out 2-0 winners under the floodlights at Gallowgate and De Jong was joined by Massadio HaÃ¯dara and Jamaal Lascelles in a strong Magpies line-up. But there were also young players, lads who have progressed through the Little Benton Academy like Roberts, Barlaser, Liam Smith, Jamie Sterry, Liam Gibson, Dan Ward and Callum Williams.

"I always try to talk on the field, even when I play in the first team, and also now with the under-21s," captain-for-the-night De Jong told nufc.co.uk after playing the full 90 minutes.

"It's nice to play with them; they're always eager to learn. In the first team, everybody has learnt a lot already but here, people listen and you can help them.

"But they're helping me as well, and helping me to get fit, so I'm glad that I could play today."

Last season was the Dutchman's first on Tyneside and it was interrupted by injury as he suffered a thigh problem and then a collapsed lung. This term, however, he's remained fit but has yet to force his way into McClaren's starting XI.

He came off the bench against Stoke on Saturday, though, as Newcastle looked for a winning goal on a day when visiting goalkeeper Jack Butland was in inspired form.

"I was happy that I could play 20 minutes last weekend but unfortunately we didn't win, although we had a couple of great chances at the end," De Jong said.

"But 20 minutes is nothing compared to 90, so I was glad to play 90 today and I want to play as much as possible to be ready when the opportunity comes to start in the first team.

"I need to be ready and I need to improve my game - and, at the moment, I need to do that here in the under-21s.

"I still need to play more games. I said to Peter (Beardsley), if there's an opportunity and I don't play on a weekend, I'd rather play as much as possible with the under-21s because I need to get a rhythm of playing games.

"It's so much different to running for 90 minutes or training for 90 minutes. Hopefully I'll get more minutes in the next few games but otherwise I'll try to keep my games up as much as possible with the under-21s, to keep fit and to be ready for when I get the chance in the first team."

De Jong's only two starts this term have both come in the Capital One Cup. He scored against Northampton in August but Newcastle were knocked out by Sheffield Wednesday in September.

That was his last full game so, perhaps unsurprisingly, he appeared to get better as the night went on against Villa's under-21s.

"Yeah, I felt a bit like that," he admitted. "In the beginning I had to get used to it, used to the tempo of the game again. It's been a month since I played.

"After a while, I think it got better but I still need to improve my game and I know that. That's why I want to play.

"It was a good result; the game maybe wasn't as we wanted it to be but a 2-0 win is good.

"I think we were a little bit sloppy sometimes in the passing and could have been a little bit better in that.

"We didn't give away a lot of big chances but I don't think we created a lot of chances at the other end either, apart from the two goals.

"But after we went 1-0 up, we played quite well. We controlled the game from that point."