Newcastle United goalkeeper Nathan Harker is relishing the challenge of spending time on loan at Blyth Spartans.
The 20-year-old agreed a four-month loan spell to join the Croft Park club on the eve of the National League North season.
And he has impressed during the early stages of his temporary stint with Spartans – despite Lee Clark’s side losing their opening four fixtures of the season.
Harker continues to train alongside United’s senior players, and he revealed that he has taken advice from his fellow Magpies goalkeepers ahead of his first move into senior football.
He said: “I am still training at Newcastle and I have come into this not knowing what to expect really.
“It’s been a really good experience for me to take forward.
“All of the keepers at Newcastle are very helpful, and they have had experience of loans at this level earlier in their career.
“They all told me not to underestimate the standard of football and they were right.
“It’s still a great standard and it’s just a different style of football.”
Harker put in a man-of-the-match display as Spartans fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat against Hereford on Saturday.
The United youngster made several impressive saves as his side pressed forward looking for an equaliser after Mike Symons had put the Bulls in front midway through the first half.
But an equaliser never arrived, and Clark's Spartans will now head to fellow strugglers Bradford Park Avenue next weekend for a meeting of the National League North’s bottom two clubs.
There were positives during the defeat against Hereford and Harker believes that his side will turns things around if they continue “trying to do the right things”.
“First-half, although we went into the break a goal down, I thought we were the better team,” he explained.
“We had a lot of chances, but it was just the final product, the final ball or the finish.
“If we could have carried that on into the second half, we would have definitely been favourites to go home with three points.
“We keep trying to do the right things, nobody can blame us for that and soon enough it will come.”
