‘This is what I've dreamt of since I was a little boy, hopefully I can keep pushing on’ Lewis Miley could be the man Newcastle United’s midfield needs to sink Sunderland and turn the team’s disappointing draws into season-defining wins

Lewis Miley was almost Newcastle United’s Champions League match-winner in Leverkusen on Wednesday night. Speaking after an eye-catching second-half cameo as a substitute, he told FourFourTwo of his personal pride and disappointment at how the match unfolded.

Disappointed Newcastle conceded past the 80-minute mark for the eighth time this season, but Miley was proud at a new record he created with his 74th-minute header that put Newcastle in the lead and in position to seal qualification from the league phase of Europe’s premier club competition.

The 19-year-old is the club’s youngest Premier League goalscorer, youngest Champions League appearance maker, youngest Champions League assist maker, and now their youngest-ever Champions League goalscorer.

Lewis Miley's boyhood dreams became a reality in Leverkusen

He took the record from Hugo Viana, now Manchester City’s Director of Football, who was 32 days older than Miley when he scored in a Champions League qualifier for Newcastle vs. Zeljeznicar in 2002.

“It's a great feeling, especially hearing that,” Miley told FourFourTwo immediately after the full-time whistle at the BayArena. “It’s what I've dreamt of since I was a little boy, really, and hopefully I can keep doing that and keep pushing on.”

Joelinton, who Miley replaced in Germany after an hour, is struggling for form and now has a groin issue that could jeopardise his place in the team for Sunday’s Wear-Tyne derby at the Stadium of Light. It's the first time the rivals have met in the league in almost 10 years.

Teenager Miley has made a strong case to start the biggest game of the season for supporters, who chanted “K*ll the Mackems” as Newcastle’s players thanked them for their support in Germany before heading down the tunnel.

All focus is now on Sunderland, and Miley has given his manager a lot of thinking to do.

“He's doing really well,” Eddie Howe told reporters after the game.

“That's all you can ask for from any player when they enter the pitch. They give their best, they contribute, and they prove how good they are, and I thought he did that in his time when he was on the pitch tonight, scored a great goal, and I’m really disappointed for him that it wasn't the match-defining moment.

“He's growing in his stature and I mean, aerially as well as physically: 6ft 4, he should contribute aerially with the tools that he has, but that was a great header, and seeing his presence on the pitch, I think, he's imposing himself more. He's a very, very good player.”

Miley echoed that sentiment. “I think I’ve played enough games to feel like one of the lads now, and for me to push on. I can only keep performing well myself, and keep showing what I can do, and hopefully that does it [gets a starting position].

Miley exudes an ultra cool demeanour, as unfazed and unemotional at the highs and lows of the game as his manager is. He could give Newcastle’s midfield the freshness needed to get a vital win on Wearside that would lift Newcastle metaphorically in terms of morale, but also physically up the table (and crucially above Sunderland) towards the Champions League qualifying spots the club need to be hitting every season now.

While Bruno Guimaraes has been his usual brilliant best, the same can’t be said of his midfield partners, Joelinton and Sandro Tonali. The latter is experiencing his first noticeable dip in form since his return from suspension last season, though Howe has pointed to mitigating circumstances.

“He [Tonali] has had a little bit of a bitty last couple of months. He had a bad illness, which really knocked him. Then he came back to fitness. Then he got a knock, I think it was in the Tottenham game.

“So a little bit in and out in terms of how he physically feels, but I'd say today looked a little bit tired towards the end naturally, because he hasn't played the length or amount of time that he would normally. It's a case of building his rhythm back."

He and Guimaraes are expected to start, but Miley, who grew up in Stanley, equidistant from Newcastle and Sunderland, is a strong option for that third spot. He’s more than ready, and Eddie Howe knows it.