‘Lewis is very calm, very level and he's not your average teenager,’ says Howe after Miley's impressive display

IN one sweep of his right foot, Lewis Miley delivered on Newcastle United's head coach Eddie Howe's pre-match declaration in the Magpies’ 4-1 win at Everton.

- By SEAN MCCORMACK

Miley impressed at right-back when he came off the bench in Tuesday's 2-1 defeat to Marseille but Howe stressed in his pre-match press conference that he did not want to stunt his development as a centre-midfielder.

But when asked about the qualities he had seen that convinced him to throw Miley into an unnatural position in the Champions League, he delivered an answer that in hindsight provided a subtle warning to Everton.

“I have always had my eye on Lewy potentially being able to play that role,” Howe said.

“It is difficult because we haven't seen him play it a lot and it is not something we have necessarily looked to do a lot in training because we don't want to take from his development as a midfielder.

“But in that moment we felt it was a risk worth taking, we were chasing the game and we know his qualities on the ball. I mean, that is undoubted. He can play the role easily from a technical viewpoint and from an attacking viewpoint. He is a very good crosser of the ball.”