Gosling ready to fight for Newcastle place

The midfielder has found opportunities at St James' Park hard to come by since his move from Everton in 2010 as he has made only 16 Premier League appearances for the club in three seasons.

With plenty of competition for places in the Newcastle midfield from the likes of Yohan Cabaye, Cheikh Tiote, Moussa Sissoko and Vurnon Anita, the 23- year-old was expected to leave ahead of the new season, but he is concentrating on forcing his way into Alan Pardew's plans after a transfer to Selhurst Park failed to materialise.

"There was obviously something last week which was meant to be happening but it didn't go through," he told the club's official website. "So I'm still a Newcastle player and happy to be a Newcastle player.

"I love being here, the fans are great with me and I just want to continue playing football.

"We have a very talented group of players at this club but every time I get the opportunity to play I will give it everything I've got."

Gosling made his first appearance of pre-season in Newcastle's 2-0 victory over St. Mirren on Tuesday and acknowledged he still has a lot of work to do ahead of their opening Premier League fixture against Manchester City.

"I'm still behind a few of the lads and am trying to catch up as best I can, and games like this will only help me," he added.

"There's nothing like playing games to get you properly fit.

"This was my first one and hopefully there's more to come."