Ayoze Pérez already knows that in the Championship little is ever certain but Newcastle United’s young Spanish striker remains convinced about two things. “Brighton’s going to be a special game,” he says. “And it’s going to be hard.”
If Chris Hughton’s return to St James’ Park on Saturday evening represents the “special” part of the equation, the former Newcastle manager’s Brighton side are out to capitalise on Rafael Benítez’s loss of two principal strikers, Dwight Gayle and Aleksandar Mitrovic to the Football Association’s precautionary concussion rules.
Once an expected 52,000 crowd has greeted Hughton – who led the Tynesiders out of the second tier in 2010 and whose replacement by Alan Pardew when the team were 11th in the Premier League the following season still rankles – attentions will focus on Pérez’s interpretation of an unfamiliar lone-striker role.
The absence of Gayle and Mitrovic, both having suffered minor blows to the head during the League Cup win against Cheltenham on Tuesday, has frustrated Benítez. “They’re fine,” he said, “but it’s the English rules.” It leaves him turning to Pérez to lead the line as Newcastle continue their quest to regain Premier League status at the first attempt.
“I’m just about the only fit striker,” said the 23-year-old Pérez, whose confidence has been bolstered by League victories at home to Reading and Bristol City.
Those wins followed defeats against Fulham and Huddersfield but Pérez ascribes those losses to culture shock. “The Championship is tougher than the Premier League, 100% tougher,” he said. “But we’ve now adapted to this league. Although there’s still a lot of work to do we’re becoming more confident and playing better football. Brighton almost won promotion last season so they’re good and I’m sure they’ll be up there again this time – but we can win.”
He maintains the division’s “toughness” is not merely down to its enhanced physicality. “I’d say the Championship’s the sixth best league in the world,” Pérez said. “There are a lot of good teams with a lot of money. It’s tough.
“It’s harder physically. But it’s more than that. It’s about the fixtures, there’s so many. You’re playing most midweeks. You feel really tired and you need a bigger squad to survive. There’s no let up. And in every game you have to give 100% physically. It’s more about winning second balls, winning battles, than the Premier League.”
He continued: “Everyone’s desperate to beat us because we’re Newcastle United. You can see it in their eyes. We’re the biggest club in this league and they want to be able to say they stopped Newcastle or they beat Newcastle.
“Just look at the way Fulham and Huddersfield celebrated afterwards. Beating a club like this was a big moment for them. Now we know what to expect. It’ll be the same every match. Maybe it was a shock at first but now we know every team will raise their game against us. We’re everyone’s game of the season. Teams are running hard, running so much but we have to try to beat them with good football.”
It is surprising a forward regularly watched by Barcelona remains on Tyneside but unlike the unsettled Moussa Sissoko (the France midfielder is once again omitted from Benítez’s squad as he desperately attempts to engineer an escape) – Pérez has never sought a move “I’ve always been happy here,” he said. “That hasn’t changed – not even when we were relegated. Of course, relegation was bad but not once have I thought about leaving.
“I believe staying here is what’s best for my career. If you’re happy in one place, why leave? During the summer I could have gone to other teams but I didn’t.”
And Barcelona? “That is something big,” he said. “But if I started thinking ‘Barcelona, oh Barcelona’ it would be wrong. Newcastle has given me everything.”
It will be an evocative occasion for the once similarly loyal Hughton but his sole focus is on outwitting Benítez. “It’s one of the biggest games on our calendar,” said Brighton’s manager, who is adamant his gifted winger Anthony Knockaert will not be among the “two or three more” players Benítez hopes to sign before Wednesday’s transfer deadline. “Playing Newcastle in front of more than 50,000 people is an atmosphere our lads are going to embrace.”
