'Outstanding' Newcastle United player receives major boost after seven months out - could feature v West Ham

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Newcastle United midfielder Lewis Miley was ‘proud’ to make his full England Under-21s debut on Monday night.

It ended an eight-month wait for a competitive start for Miley, who has suffered with various injury issues during 2024. But after returning to full fitness at Newcastle and appearing off the bench in the 2-0 Carabao Cup win against Chelsea last month, Miley was drafted into the England Under-21s squad.

The 18-year-old made his Under-21s debut as a second-half substitute in the 0-0 draw against Spain on Friday before starting the 1-1 draw with the Netherlands on Monday night. Miley played 57 minutes for the Young Lions, who saw Dane Scarlett’s opener cancelled out by Thom van Bergen late on.

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It was Miley’s first start since the FA Cup defeat at Manchester City in March as his breakthrough season at Newcastle was cut short due to a back injury. The teenager then suffered a fractured metatarsal in June as he prepared to return for pre-season.

After starting against the Netherlands, Miley took to social media to post an image of himself in action for the Under-21s side along with the caption: “Proud to have made my U21 debut this camp!”

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Miley will return to Newcastle ahead of next Monday’s Premier League clash against West Ham United at St James’ Park (8pm kick-off). But the midfielder faces stiff competition to try end get back into Newcastle’s midfield having made 26 appearances for the club last season.

The return of Sandro Tonali from a ban and Joe Willock and Joelinton from injury have moved Miley down the pecking order during his injury absence. But he remains very highly regarded by Magpies head coach Eddie Howe.

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“He’s an outstanding player,” Howe said following Miley’s return last month. “He’s shown that in coming back to training.

“You’d expect to see some rustiness from him technically or some physical development still to go, but I think he’s come back physically like a changed athlete.

“He’s more solid and filled out which will naturally come as he gets older, but he looks like he’s used his time away from the training pitch very well.”

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