Fergie signs for Birmingham

The Newcastle United man, comfortable on the left wing or at full-back, will wear first-team squad number 32 and will be in consideration for this weekend’s trip to title contenders Hull City.

The 21-year-old, who has been at a couple of Institute games over the last few weeks, stated recently with the new signings of Moussa Sissoko, Yoan Gouffran and Mathieu Debuchy to name but a few, his chances of first team action may have been limited over the coming months and a loan move was something he was thinking about.

“Since the new lads came to the club, I knew my opportunities were going to be limited for a while and I have spoken to the manager about going out on loan,” stated the Eglinton man.

“I’m happy enough to have played quite a few Premier League and Europa League games this season which is all a learning curve but I need to play regularly.

“Alan Pardew has been terrific and talks to me quite a lot and we have both agreed going out and gaining first-team experience on a regular basis would be a good thing for me and my career.

“I signed a five-year deal with Newcastle at the start of last season and the loan move is just about experience; the manager has told me my future is very much with Newcastle and that is good to hear.

“To be honest, I am looking forward to going out on loan. If you look at players like David Beckham and Paul Scholes when they were coming through at Manchester United all those years ago, they knew it would help their development so I would never be so arrogant to think it wouldn’t improve me, playing down the leagues.”