Hughton - Carroll is unique

Magpies boss praises young forward

Last updated: 5th March 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Hughton - Carroll is unique

Carroll: Hughton backing

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Newcastle manager Chris Hughton has told in-form striker Andy Carroll that he must be his own man.

The Magpies forward has scored five in the last six games and his goals have propelled Newcastle to the top of the Championship table.

An excellent performance against Watford last weekend led fans to compare him to club legends Alan Shearer, Malcolm MacDonald and Jackie Milburn, but Hughton has urged the 21-year-old to just keep developing.

"He has got to be his own player," he said. "He is still a young player and he is still developing, and amongst all of that, he is going to have his highs and lows.

"He is going to have his dips in form, where people might start saying different things about him, and then he is going to have his good performances where they will say the things they have been saying.

"All he can try to do is develop. I saw him play at Under-21 level (for England) on Wednesday night and it was a difficult game for him.

"He didn't get the amount of service he would like. But he has just got to keep developing and be his own player."

Unbeaten run

The table-toppers host South Yorkshire outfit Barnsley at St James' Park on Saturday in the league.

Newcastle have not lost at home so far this season, and if they remain unbeaten for the duration of the campaign they would do so for the first time in 103 years.

Hughton added: "It would be some record and it would be a wonderful achievement by this group of lads.

"At this stage, we are going to be hit by lots of stats, records and so on, but the only stat we are interested in really is the one at the end of the season that says we have finished in the top two and it has given us an opportunity to go back to the Premier League."