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Newcastle United head coach Steve McClaren has had a “good long chat” with Tony Mowbray about loanee Adam Armstrong to ensure he is “developing his game” at the Ricoh Arena, the Coventry City boss has revealed.

The Sky Blues manager has stated that Armstrong - who netted a brace over the weekend to move to the top of the League One scoring charts with eight goals in nine games - is very much on McClaren’s radar at the moment, though he wants the forward to remain at Coventry for the timebeing.

Though 18-year-old forward Armstrong has been taking League One by storm, Mowbray does not believe he is close to making such an impact in the Premier League.

Mowbray - and McClaren - are both adamant that Armstrong, who is away on England Under-19 duty this week, needs to keep “enjoying his football” at the Ricoh Arena for the next few months at least.

Mowbray told Coventry’s official website: “I had a good long chat with Steve last week. He wants to know how he’s (Armstrong’s) doing and he wants to know how we’re playing him.

“He’s not just stood up front between the two centre-halves, he’s developing his game.

“He’s a part of the team and the way we function, and we’ve played him behind the main striker and on the wings which is important for him.

“It’s important that if he wants to play in the Premier League that he develops his football knowledge.

“With total respect to this league, he won’t be sprinting away from Premier League centre-halves like he does at this level.

“Regarding his future, we’ve just got to let the boy enjoy his football.

“He’s very respectful of the group and I really enjoy working with him as he is very humble, and just because he’s scored a few goals doesn’t mean that he wants to stop learning.”

Newcastle have netted just six times in the league so far this season, two less than Armstrong himself, but they did sign Aleksandar Mitrovic for £13million - and the Serbian opened his account for the club against Manchester City over the weekend.

With Papiss Cisse, Emmanuel Riviere and Ayoze Perez also on United’s books, Mowbray believes Armstrong is best served playing regularly at the Ricoh rather than fighting for a starting berth at St James’ Park right now.

He added: “They (Newcastle) spent £15million (actually £13million) on a striker in the summer and they’ve got some great players there who are ahead of him.

“Put it into context really, he’s an 18-year old boy who needs to develop his game.

“The qualities he has hurt defenders in this league but at this moment in time, I don’t think he’d be able to do that to Premier League defenders.

“He needs to keep doing what he’s doing. He listens to gameplans and tries to understand the different roles he can play which will be important for his development.

“Of course, Adam is away on international duty for the next two games but, when he comes back, we’ll continue to work with him and make him a better player.”