ELLIOT ANDERSON has no interest in leaving Newcastle United on loan again - and is determined to carve out a place as a first-team regular this season.

Having spent the second half of the previous season on loan at Bristol Rovers, Anderson remained on Tyneside last term and became an increasingly prominent member of Eddie Howe’s senior squad.

The attacking midfielder made three Premier League starts and 19 substitute appearances as well as also appearing in the first team in both the FA Cup and League Cup.

He has been the subject of interest from a number of clubs in the Championship this summer, but Howe has no desire to send him back out on loan and Anderson does not want to be leaving Tyneside for the second time in his career.

Instead, the 20-year-old is determined to make his mark within Newcastle’s senior ranks, with the extra demands of the Champions League likely to force Howe to make more changes to his starting XI than was generally the case last season.

“As far as I know, I think I’m here,” said Anderson, when asked how he saw the new campaign panning out on a personal basis. “Hopefully, it’s just getting started for me. This season is more important than last season, and I really want to kick on and be part of the future here.

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“Being around the team and getting appearances here and there boosts your confidence and makes you feel a bit more at home. I feel really part of it now, and hopefully we’ll see that this season.”

Anderson played a prominent role in Newcastle’s opening pre-season friendly at Gateshead at the weekend, scoring the 50th-minute goal that sparked the Magpies’ second-half comeback as they overcame a two-goal half-time deficit to win 3-2.

Whereas the youngster has spent the vast majority of his senior career so far playing as either a central midfielder or on the left-hand side, he was stationed as a central attacker for most of Saturday’s game, with the absence of a raft of senior players meaning Howe had to shuffle his pack.

Anderson is unlikely to spend too much time playing up front next term, and sees a midfield role on the left-hand side as his ideal position, but admits adding goals to his game is a key ambition.

He found the net after coming off the bench against Nottingham Forest last season, only for the effort to be controversially disallowed for offside, but is still to break his Magpies duck at senior level.

“I’ve spoken to a few of the coaches and I think I need to bring goals to the team really,” said Anderson, who is likely to be back on the field for at least some of Newcastle’s next pre-season game against Rangers at Ibrox this evening. “If you want to get in the team, you need to be scoring. That’s my ultimate aim, to put some chances away and hopefully we’ll get there.

“It’s something I’ve been thinking to myself, I need to score more goals to help me get in the team. I was a bit disappointed I didn’t get more (at Gateshead), but I’ll take the one and hopefully get more in the games to come.”

Anderson was still something of an unknown quantity at this stage of pre-season 12 months ago, but having been in and around the first team for a year now, the Scotland Under-21 international is increasingly feeling more and more at home.

“You almost have to earn your right to feel like that,” he said. “Sometimes, if you’re not performing well, you don’t feel amongst it massively. It’s all about how you play on the pitch and how you feel alongside that.

“Quite a lot of times, I’ve sat and thought to myself, ‘This is pretty special’, but when you’re in amongst it, you just have to soak it up and work on your football.

“It’s great. My brothers and my mum and dad are always asking me how I feel, but when you’re in it, you just try to make it the norm, even though it’s not.”