Newcastle's 'unreal' midfielder has opened up about his injury hell but says he's coming back stronger

Newcastle United were cursed with many injuries during the last campaign but it wasn't until right at the end of the season that things turned bad for one Magpies star.

Youngster Lewis Miley had become a regular feature in Eddie Howe's side during the season thanks to a lack of options in midfield. Sandro Tonali was serving his 10-month ban and injuries to Joelinton and Joe Willock seriously reduced the numbers in midfield for Eddie Howe.

Thankfully, Miley had shown promise in pre-season and Eddie Howe believed he'd seen enough that he felt he could handle the pressure.

Howe has admitted that he used Miley more than he'd have liked to last season, but Newcastle fans were loving seeing one of our own go up against the big boys at such a young age.

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Miley says he knew instantly his latest injury would need surgery

Unfortunately, as the season drew to a close, Miley picked up a back injury which kept him out for weeks, and just as he was making his return to training he then picked up a metatarsal injury that required surgery.

Miley missed pre-season and has only just returned to training. The 18-year-old has spoken to the official website about how he knew immediately that he would need surgery after his broke his metatarsal.

"It's been a really tough period for me, returning from a back injury to then break my metatarsal. It's been difficult but I'm coming towards the end of it and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel so I'm really looking forward to being back with the lads and being on the pitch again.

"It was a freak accident (to my metatarsal). I was a week away from being back with the team for pre-season and, as I was training with one of the fitness coaches, I turned direction and felt something straightaway. It was quite painful so I knew I'd have to get it operated on, which was really tough, but I just had to try and bounce back from that."

Lewis Miley is coming back bigger and better than ever

The player dubbed 'unreal' by teammate Harrison Ashby then spoke about how he's ready to come back stronger than ever both mentally and physically.

"I've never really had injuries like these before so it was really hard at the start of it but, mentally, I feel even stronger as a person and I think it will benefit me in the future.

"It's not nice to be injured but it has helped me work on other things, such as in the gym, where I wouldn't be able to if I was playing regularly so it's been a positive in a way to make myself stronger, both physically and mentally.

"I feel I have gained more muscle and I think that can also help me for when I'm back so that I'm strong, fit and ready to go.

"I'm really looking forward to being back and the better quality of players in the team, the more they'll help me improve as a player. I want to try and get as many minutes as possible to try and perform, showing people what I can do again."