Souness tells kids to wait

Newcastle boss Graeme Souness has admitted his young players will have to wait for their chance once he has completed his summer shopping spree.

The Magpies face Fulham on Wednesday night with James Milner, Darren Ambrose, Charles N'Zogbia, Steven Taylor and Peter Ramage all likely to be in the starting line-up as injuries continue to deplete their squad.

All five have performed credibly in recent weeks with Kieron Dyer, Nicky Butt, Jermaine Jenas, Aaron Hughes, Titus Bramble and Celestine Babayaro on the casualty list and Lee Bowyer suspended.

Now Robbie Elliott has joined those ranks and Souness has little option but to field some of his less experienced players.

However, as the Scot prepares to embark upon a drastic overhaul of his squad he admitted the youngsters will not form the foundation of his team next season. This includes teenage superstar Milner who has been particularly impressive recently, after a quiet start to his career on Tyneside.

"Milner does not get any mentions about being an outstanding prospect because of his season at Leeds - but he is only 18 years old," he said.

"He is a baby but when he comes in it is 'James Milner: he should do well because he has been playing first team football for a long time'.

"I do not think he was over-awed when he came in but he arrived at 18 with a big price tag and maybe we all expected so much of him, and that is hard on a young boy.

"He must have warranted his position at Leeds even though they were fighting a relegation battle. He played a lot of games for them.

"He has not played as many games here but we have high hopes for him. He has come here with a big price tag into a better level of players and he has not played as many games, which is natural and normal.

"We have got high hopes for James, as we have for the other young ones, but if we started next season with four or five of them in the first team, then they would find it very, very difficult as the season went on.

"We are going to try to get 24-25 year olds, who are seasoned pros in, who can deal with all the ups and downs and whatever comes in a season."

Souness has gone on record as saying Newcastle will win nothing with a team of James Milners, a belief he insists has nothing to do with his assessment of the player or his future role, but rather the harsh reality of top flight football and the need for experienced heads.

"Alan Hansen got pilloried by saying you never win anything with kids, but that stems from his time at Liverpool," he said. "That was the belief there and that is what I believe as well.

"If you look back in history, it is difficult for younger players to come into a team en masse and do well over a hard season. I think it is asking too much for them mentally and physically.

"They can come in and do an important job and play a part over a long hard season that will involve a lot of cup games and hard, demanding Premiership games.

The type of players we have got here, the younger players we have introduced here, have done very well. But they are not gong to be main men for us next season."