Elliot Anderson faces this challenge to become Newcastle United regular | OneFootball

In a week which saw Eddie Howe’s Newcastle take seven points from a possible nine to reignite their challenge for European football, it was great to see local boy Elliott Anderson playing a key role in all three matches.

An impressive half hour cameo against West Ham United, as a Harvey Barnes inspired Newcastle came back from 3-1 down to win 4-3, led to a position in Howe’s starting line up in the draw against Everton.

Anderson impressed in his 70 minutes on the pitch before understandably running out of steam in what was his first start since October.

Although that wasn’t enough to keep him in the starting eleven at Craven Cottage, Anderson entered the fray in the first half as Joe Willock once again succumbed to injury and impressed, as Howe’s team left London with a hard earned three points.

The young man from Whitley Bay is clearly highly regarded by his manager and rightly so. His potential is clear for all to see and he would undoubtedly benefit from a spell uninterrupted by injury as he looks to establish himself as a realistic challenger for a first team place.

The hardest part is now ahead of Elliot Anderson. To go from squad player to first team player.

To do that he needs to do one thing.

Put simply, he needs to add end product to his game.

He demonstrated the potential he has with Bristol Rovers a couple of seasons ago, when he scored seven goals and added six assists in 21 appearances, as he inspired a side then managed by Joey Barton to an unlikely promotion on the final day of the season.

However, he has yet to demonstrate the same level of productivity at the top level with just two assists in 48 appearances so far in his Newcastle United career, although only 11 of those 48 appearances were in the starting eleven.

It is clear where he needs to improve.