Sky Sports pundit Sue Smith was impressed with what she saw from Matty Longstaff as the midfielder made his senior debut for Newcastle United in their penalty shoot-out defeat to Leicester City in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.
Longstaff, 19, played from start to finish for the Magpies as the drew 1-1 against a full-strength Leicester side before they were eventually knocked out of the competition on penalties.
Former England women international Smith heaped praise on Longstaff for his ball control after watching him for the first time in a competitive setting for Newcastle at St James’ Park.
“The debutant Matty Longstaff has got lovely quick feet,” she said on Sky Sports News on Wednesday night [07:53pm].
OPINION
Longstaff did a decent job for Newcastle in their loss against Leicester. Although, ultimately, the match ended with Newcastle losing, there were a lot of positives to be said about what was an almost second-string side against a Leicester side that was basically at full-strength. Longstaff’s display was one of those positives and while he did not do much to say that he should be starting in the Premier League on a weekly basis, just to see him feature and finally make his debut is a good sign of things to come. Hopefully Steve Bruce does not wait too long before calling on Longstaff again because it would be great if the fans were to get to see more of him in the coming months. Unfortunately dropping out of the Carabao Cup means there are fewer opportunities for Longstaff, and other youngsters and fringe players at St James’ Park, to get out onto the pitch and make an impression. Maybe the next time we will see Longstaff will be when the FA Cup third round starts in January.
