Eddie Howe says Harrison Ashby is still in with a shout of making his first-team debut this season

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Newcastle United brought in promising right-back Harrison Ashby from West Ham in January but the 21-year-old has yet to feature on one of Eddie Howe’s teamsheets.

Ashby arrived at Newcastle with a stellar reputation from West Ham fans who were absolutely devastated to see him leave the captial. Unforuntately, for Newcastle, Ashby was carrying a hamstring injury when he signed which has kept him out of contention since he arrived.

On Monday, Newcastle’s reserves played out a nervy 4-3 win over Norwich in which Ashby played a key role. Finally getting to pull on the shirt, Ashby got himself on the scoresheet as well as turning provider for Ryan Fraser. It was an impressive outing for the right-back.

Eddie Howe is willing to wait before giving Ashby his first-team bow

Now Eddie Howe has been asked if Ashby is in his plans for the Premier League run-in now that he’s fit. Speaking to the media on Friday ahead of the Tottenham game, Howe said: “He’s had a minor hamstring problem a couple of times, which has just dented his ability to train with us.

“Really pleased to see him come through (Monday’s) game. He played very well. He showed his qualities.

“He could potentially before the end of the season be in the matchday squad but he’s very much one that we’re developing and looking forward to trying to maximise his talent.”

Reading between the lines there, it sounds like Ashby might be given a chance in the first-team this season if Newcastle have secured their league position with a game to spare, otherwise Howe is willing to wait before throwing him in the deep end.

Howe has a track record of being patient with new signings and isn’t prepared to shake things up just so that fans can get a glimpse of the new boy. It’s a ploy that we as fans are still getting used to, but one that definitely yields results.

We had to wait to see Bruno Guimaraes and Sven Botman in action and they were signed to go into the first-team straight away whereas Ashby was always seen as a player to develop. In fact, you could argue that we saw Botman ahead of schedule due to Matt Targett‘s injury.

Harrison Ashby can learn from the best in Kieran Trippier

Ashby has plenty of years ahead of him so it makes sense not to rush him into the team. He can learn a lot from Kieran Trippier on the training ground and ultimately be moulded to be the perfect replacement for the captain when he hangs up his boots.

It’s not that he doesn’t have any experience. The Scotland youth international made seven first-team appearances for the Hammers before Newcastle scooped him up.

All that being said, it would be nice to get a closer look at what we’ve got in Ashby given the reputation he had amongst West Ham fans. If he’s even half as good as what they claim, we’ve absolutely stolen him from the Hammers paying just £3million.