Eddie Howe says one Newcastle player was so ‘aggressive’ in pre-season friendly vs Villa

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Eddie Howe singled out 20-year-old Newcastle midfielder Elliot Anderson for praise after his excellent performance against Aston Villa in their friendly.

The academy graduate scored Newcastle’s opening goal in the 3-3 draw and Howe praised the aggression in his performance.

Speaking with NUFC TV after the game Howe said: “He’s come back really fit, we saw that on the first day back with our testing.”

“He’s done really well today by nicking balls in midfield and being very aggressive but the composure shown around the box today was elite.”

“He has done excellently for the two goals we scored.”

“We really like him, I think he is developing nicely.”

The Scotland Under 21 international will be pleased to hear such recognition from his manager ahead of a big season at the club.

Anderson played an important role as a substitute in his 22 Premier League appearances last year and will now look to kick on.

Newcastle will of course have more fixtures this season with their addition of UEFA Champions League football.

Anderson will be keen to continue this form and stake his claim for a starting spot.

And the midfielder’s eye for goal shouldn’t be a surprise for those aware of his youth career.

Anderson boasted incredible goal-scoring numbers throughout his development as can be seen with his 13 goals in 25 appearances at Premier League 2 level.

Howe pleased with Anderson’s development at Newcastle

From Anderson’s point of view, the only blight on the summer so far this summer may be the arrival of 23-year-old Sandro Tonali.

The former AC Milan midfielder arrived for a fee of £55m and will surely command a starting spot in the midfield three.

Whilst Anderson will surely be pleased to see a world-class player arrive, he’d probably prefer it wasn’t in the position he was vying for a start.

Tonali is also impressing in pre-season and fans are very excited to see him form a trio with Joelinton and Bruno Guimaraes.

There’s a lot to be optimistic about at St James’ Park this season and that includes the arrival of Harvey Barnes.

The 25-year-old’s transfer to Newcastle was confirmed yesterday prior to their friendly with Aston Villa.

For a fee of £38m the winger becomes Newcastle’s third summer signing with Yankuba Minteh also arriving earlier in the summer.