Dan Barlaser was back in action for Newcastle United U23 this week.

The midfielder - who United have high hopes for - has been on loan at Crewe Alexandra but has been restricted to just 58 minutes of action with the League Two side.

He featured for Newcastle U23 in their 3-0 win over Colchester United.

Barlaser told the Evening Chronicle: “I didn't play on Saturday so I just spoke to Ben Dawson and he told me to come back and get some match fitness.

“I have been following the lads on Twitter and they haven't had good results.

“I trained on Sunday and the main thing was to come back and play, get a clean sheet and the front four players did well and we scored three goals.

“I think we could have got more but 3-0 is still a good result.

“I was blowing a bit in the last 10 or 15 minutes but I felt all right."