Newcastle United ace Kelland Watts comments on Sean Longstaff ahead of crucial Premier League Cup game

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The Magpies Under-23s defender played alongside Longstaff earlier in the season, the latter going on to impress for the first team.

Newcastle United midfielder Sean Longstaff may have been ruled out potentially until the end of the season, but there is no doubting the impact he has already made in the first team.

The 21-year-old academy graduate has burst onto the scene this season under Rafael Benitez, making nine Premier League appearances (Transfermarkt) to much acclaim.

Longstaff initially wasn’t in his manager’s plans at the start of the campaign, but with certain players having been either injured, out of form or otherwise unavailable, it opened the door for him in the first team.

However, he had to be replaced at half time of the Premier League game at West Ham United earlier in March and, on 7 March, Newcastle confirmed that he suffered a knee ligament injury and is likely to be out for the rest of the campaign.

On the plus side, Newcastle Under-23s manager Ben Dawson issued some positive news regarding the talented youngster, telling the Newcastle Chronicle he imagined “the rehab will be quicker than most” as he isn’t “normally injured”.

Ahead of the crucial Premier League Cup quarter-final tie between the U23s and their Derby County counterparts, defender Kelland Watts name-checked Longstaff by saying he loved playing alongside him earlier in the season and seeing him come such a long way.

“All the lads have been great, such as the senior members who are still here or out on loan,” Watts told the official Newcastle website about his stint in the U23s and switch to defence from midfield.

“It was great to be playing with Sean Longstaff at the start of the season and seeing where he is now after doing so well for the first team.”

With Longstaff having begun the season in the U23s and making a huge mark in the senior team, it seems to have already put an extra spring in the step of the other academy hopefuls, who will harbour first-team hopes of their own and have seen it can be done.