Turner-Cooke braced for Blues battle | OneFootball

The young Magpies, currently situated in sixth place of the 26-team division, face their Blues counterparts at Whitley Park and can leapfrog the West London outfit with a victory in their final fixture of 2024.

Diarmuid O'Carroll's side target a third league victory in a row after triumphs over Leeds United and Crystal Palace and Turner-Cooke, who joined United's youth set-up from Sunderland in January 2021, expressed his delight in United's impressive opening to the 2024/25 league campaign.

The 20-year-old attacking midfielder told newcastleunited.com: "We've had a very good first-half of the season, especially since the new manager has came in. He's put his ideas across, which we've taken on board and I think we want to continue that strong start to the season but also improve as a team.

"We're looking forward to the game and Chelsea and, hopefully, we can pick up another three points. The results in the league have been encouraging and I still think we could've picked up even more points than we have done, scoring more goals as well.

"I think we've got a really good squad so it hasn't come as a surprise to us as a team because we have that quality in the team to go up against any side and put in the performances we are doing, feeling we can beat anybody."

Turner-Cooke, who spent the first-half of the 2023/24 season on loan at Scottish Premiership side St Johnstone, has also been pleased with his own displays at second-string level, starting seven of Newcastle's opening nine league matches.

One of the senior figures in United's under-21s squad, making his professional debut in February 2023 whilst on loan at Tranmere Rovers, the South Shields-born youngster is keen to offer his experiences at first-team level to those bidding to follow in familiar footsteps during the fledgling stages of their footballing careers.

"I think I've had a good start to the season, getting a couple of goals and a few assists so I've really enjoyed it on a personal level," he added.

"I've enjoyed working with Diarmuid, he's made me enjoy my football and hopefully I can kick on going into the second-half of this season, taking it from there.

"I try and pass on as much experience to the younger lads and help them as much as possible. It's nice of them to ask questions, be interested in how it goes on in the real football world and I'm always happy to pass my experiences on to help my teammates."

Admission for Newcastle United Under-21s' Premier League 2 visit of Chelsea is free for season ticket holders, otherwise it's £3 for adults and £1 concessions.