EDDIE HOWE has ruled out allowing Elliot Anderson to leave Newcastle United on loan in the second half of the season.

Anderson has not made a single senior start for the Magpies this season, with the most recent of his eight Premier League substitute appearances having come in the Boxing Day win over Leicester City.

The 20-year-old spent the second half of last season on loan at Bristol Rovers, and has been the subject of strong interest from a number of clubs, including teams in the Championship, since the transfer window reopened at the start of the year.

However, Howe has no interest in allowing him to leave St James’ Park this month, and expects the youngster to play an increasingly prominent role for Newcastle in the remainder of the campaign.

Speaking ahead of tomorrow’s FA Cup third-round game at Sheffield Wednesday, Howe said: “He’s here, and he’s very valued by us. He’s had a number of niggles in the last couple of months, which has prevented him from being involved more.

“I’d like to say now that he’s back to his best condition. He’s got a valuable role to play with us between now and the end of the season – I certainly won’t be loaning him anywhere.”

Howe has also ruled out a loan move for Jamal Lewis, with the left-back, who has only made one substitute appearance so far this season, having become more important following the injury that is set to keep Matt Targett on the sidelines for more than a month.

Howe said: “Jamal is in a good place. When I first came in, he had injury problems. He had a problem with his pelvis where he went away and it got sorted.

“That was pivotal because he wasn’t feeling himself in training and in games because he didn’t feel he execute physically what he wanted to do. He’s an incredible athlete, and now we’re seeing that in training because he’s feeling a lot more himself.

“He’s trained very well and become accustomed to our principles of play. He’s done a lot of work behind the scenes. I’d back him to produce some very good performances for us now, if given the opportunity. For me, there’s never been a doubt about the quality of player. He’s a player we really like.

“We have so many games ahead of us, a long season to come. Dan Burn, by his own admission, would probably want to be a centre-half, that would be his favoured position, but he’s doing really well at left-back for us.

“That only leaves us Jamal as a recognised left-back, with Paul Dummett coming back from injury and Matt Targett injured. There’s no way I’d be letting Jamal out at this moment, even though for his own career development, he might now be in a position where he’d be saying he wants to play regularly.

“You get these situations with players. There’s never one situation that suits everybody – there’s the team’s needs and his needs. But fundamental to it is that we like him as a player and want his career to develop. Hopefully, he can achieve everything he wants to here.”