Guthrie's Newcastle United debut – which came a little over a week after his sudden move from Liverpool – couldn't have gone much better for the midfielder.

The 21-year-old scored one goal and set up another in Saturday's 4-1 away win over Hartlepool United after coming off the bench for the second half.

Guthrie knew all about the passion of United's fans when he signed, having played against Newcastle for Bolton Wanderers in Kevin Keegan's first game back in charge at St James's Park.

And he was happy he and his team-mates gave the 1,000-plus travelling fans plenty to shout about, with Damien Duff grabbing a hat-trick in Newcastle's first warm-up game of the campaign.

Guthrie told the Gazette: "They were unbelievable. For a pre-season game, that was something else.

"You don't get that at every club. I know what the fans are like, I played in the Kevin Keegan return game and it was one of the best atmospheres I have ever played in.

"Playing at St James's Park, when it's full, is something I'm really looking forward to.

"Playing in front of the Liverpool fans is similar, but Newcastle's stadium is bigger so I suppose they're going to be even louder, and I can't wait for that moment."

Guthrie's goal took a deflection off former Sunderland defender Ben Clark on its way past Arran Lee-Barrett.

He added: "It took a little deflection but sometimes you need that, and if you don't have a shot, you don't score. To get a goal, an assist and a win was a big bonus.

"The main thing was to get the rust off and get a feel of things again.

"The first week's been really tough. I've been finding out how things work up here. It's a really big club, and it's nice to finally play a game."

Newcastle United defender David Edgar says he has fully recovered from his summer hernia surgery.

Edgar made his comeback against Hartlepool on Saturday.

He said: "There are no problems with the injury, so I'm happy.

"I enjoyed it, and although my first couple of touches weren't good, I was happy with my overall performance."