Newcastle defender Steven Taylor is ready to fight for his place after being told he will not be allowed to leave the club on loan next month.
The 27-year-old's agent, Willie McKay, raised the possibility of Taylor making a temporary move earlier this week, with his path to the first team currently blocked by Fabricio Coloccini, Mike Williamson and Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa following his recovery from injury.
However, manager Alan Pardew is adamant that he needs Taylor at his disposal and the player is now stepping up his efforts to force his way into the 52-year-old's plans.
The defender, who played 90 minutes for the club's Under-21s side in their 4-1 win over Norwich on Friday, told the Shields Gazette: "I want to play football. I want to play as much football as I can.
"If I'm not going to get in the team, then obviously we will have to look at something else.
"But at this moment in time, the manager has come out and said that, so we will have to wait and see. Hopefully soon I will be back in amongst it. I'll wait to see what happens.
"At Newcastle, I have had competition all my career. I thrive on that and it doesn't bother me one bit. The manager makes a decision and you have just got to accept that.
"I need to keep working hard and knuckling down."
Source: PA
