Academy. "I feel at home" - Pivaš on life in Newcastle

Miodrag Pivaš (U21s v Mansfield)
Published
2 hours ago
Team
U21

Newcastle United feels like home to Miodrag Pivaš, who is happily settled into life on Tyneside both on and off the pitch.

The Serbian defender, who joined the Magpies from FK Jedinstvo Ub in July 2024, has been featuring for Newcastle's under-21s side in recent weeks and netted his first goal for the club in last month's 1-1 draw against Reading in the Premier League 2.

The 20-year-old revealed he has his sights set on a positive campaign with United's second-string after a frustrating loan spell at Willem II last term, making five Eredivisie appearances as the club suffered relegation from the Dutch top-flight.

Pivaš told newcastleunited.com: "I've been at the Academy for a couple of months now and I'm building really good relationships with the staff as well as the players. They have given me a warm welcome and I love being there. The atmosphere in the dressing room is very good and I feel at home.

"I'm very happy after putting a difficult season behind me. I need consistency in playing and the next step, after a tough season in Holland, is playing for Newcastle.

"In every season, you can take something positive. It was a hard experience and things did not work out as people may have expected but I want to look forward now and to enjoy my time with Newcastle. I feel like I'm in the perfect place to learn and gain consistency.

"I scored my first goal for the under-21s [against Reading] and I was really pleased because we were one-nil down and the goal helped us a lot. I gained a bit of confidence and had more belief in myself which was positive."

Newcastle's youngsters are in Vertu Trophy action on Wednesday night as they face Mansfield Town at the One Call Stadium (kick-off 7:45pm BST) and will be aiming to build on a positive 3-1 victory against Boston United in the National League Cup group stages last week.

Pivaš is relishing a "good test" against the Stags, who currently sit in 12th place of League One, and is keen for his side to bounce back from their Northern Group F opener against Huddersfield Town - a 6-2 defeat at the Accu Stadium.

The highly-rated centre-back, who made his senior debut for Austrian third tier side SV Grödig as a 16-year-old, added: "We need these types of games for our development but we need to show character and learn from the last game against Huddersfield, realising what we did wrong, how to improve and to go to Mansfield without any fear.

"The reaction of the team was great (for the Boston game) as we had lost against Tottenham a few days beforehand and put a difficult period behind us with the win. We played a senior team so I was happy with how we dealt with them and we need to take that into the game against Mansfield.

"I enjoy these games because it's real football and everyone in the team needs them. It's a lot more different when you compare them to Premier League 2 as there's more fight and spirit. The atmosphere is better and I like it a lot."

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