KARL DARLOW is determined to dislodge Tim Krul as Newcastle’s first-choice goalkeeper following his return from a loan spell at Nottingham Forest.

Along with centre-half Jamaal Lascelles, Darlow signed for the Magpies last summer, only to be immediately loaned back to Forest for the whole of last season.

The pair started pre-season training with Newcastle at the start of the month, and travelled to the United States for a three-game tour that will kick off in the early hours of tomorrow morning with a game against Club Atlas.

Darlow accepts it will difficult to wrest a starting spot from Krul, but insists he has not moved to Tyneside to play second fiddle to the Dutchman.

“I’m pretty much here to compete with Tim,” said Darlow. “Competition for places is obviously healthy.

“For me, I want to play, so I’m going to be pushing myself to see the best I can do and obviously Tim will want to keep the number one jersey, which I’m here to push for. Hopefully, it will spur him on and improve him and it will do the same for me.”

Darlow is happy to have spent last season at the City Ground, but feels it is now time to take his career to a higher level.

“It’s a clean slate and a fresh start for me,” he said. “It was a good experience going back to Forest, I got game time and hopefully it's helped my goalkeeping progress.

“But now I’m playing at Premier League level and I’m looking forward to it.”

Darlow has been working with Krul in the early stages of pre-season training, and has struck up an immediate rapport with his new team-mate.

“He’s (Krul) been very welcoming,” he said. “We’ve had good chats about goalkeeping and our summer holidays.

“I can learn a lot from him – he’s an international and he’s played a lot of games in the Premier League.

“He's very well respected across the world, and it's great for me to be learning from him. I just want to better myself and this is a way of doing it.”