Having played under and alongside a number of football greats, Danny Guthrie remains ambitious for his own career. The Newcastle midfielder tells Sports Writer Andy Richardson about emerging from the ranks at Liverpool and his hopes of claiming an England place.

AS a teenager, Danny Guthrie traversed one of the widest divides in football when he left Manchester United’s Academy to take up a scholarship at rivals Liverpool.

Figures from Anfield and Old Trafford have continued to exert a huge influence over the course of Guthrie’s career with Kevin Keegan, Roy Keane, Steve Heighway, Sammy Lee and Steven Gerrard all playing their part in moulding the combative Newcastle midfielder.

“Steve Heighway brought me to Liverpool to offer me a scholarship and then a pro contract so I’ve got a lot to thank him for,” said Guthrie.

“Then Sammy Lee took me to Bolton before Kevin (Keegan) came in for me and I joined Newcastle, so there has been a kind of Liverpool old boy connection to my career.”

But before he was courted by a succession of Anfield legends, Guthrie seemed destined to join their great rivals.

As a highly-rated 12-year old he was on Manchester United’s books during the period when Keane was a near-mythical figure at the club. But when United proved reluctant to offer the young midfield terrier an extended deal, Liverpool swooped and the Shrewsbury-born lad moved into digs on Merseyside.

If he’d been awestruck by Keane’s presence, Guthrie’s switch to Anfield introduced him to a player cited as the finest midfielder of his generation.

“The two players I looked towards at that age were Steven Gerrard at Liverpool and, going further back, I’d watch Keane at Man United,’’ he admitted.

“Roy was at United when I was there but I was really young so he was this distant figure and I never spoke to him. But by the time I got to Liverpool I was at the age when I could train and play with Stevie G.

“He is the best midfielder in the country, if not the world, so he became a huge influence on me.

“The way he can run a game from the middle of the park is second to none.

“His work-rate never drops and he is a born winner.

People often notice the more eye-catching stuff that he does, like a long-range pass or a great strike, but when you’re on the same field as him you really see what he does.

“He’s immense, a leader and is the perfect player to play alongside. Alan Smith is similar in that regard”

Guthrie made his first-team breakthrough in a League Cup tie against Reading, arriving as a 62nd minute substitute for Mohamed Sissoko. Before the end of the year he earned his first start to help Liverpool secure a 3-2 Champions League victory over Galatasaray.

Guthrie’s displays in Liverpool’s Academy side had earned him a call-up to the England U15s schoolboys side before he represented his country at U20 level. But ousting Gerrard and Xabi Alonso from the first team was another matter entirely.

“It killed me not playing,’’ he admitted. “Liverpool were very strong in midfield and it’s difficult to get a game when you’re a young lad trying to prove yourself. I couldn’t bear sitting on the sidelines so I made the decision to move on and play games. It wasn’t an easy decision because Liverpool were my team.”

The Reds may have become his team but the player aiming to become a Magpies hero this season has revealed that he began life as a Villain.

“I was an Aston Villa fan when I was a kid,” admitted Guthrie, who would travel from his home in Telford to watch the likes of Paul Merson and a young Gareth Barry run the Villa midfield.

“They were the closest big team to where we lived – it was either Villa or Wolves but Villa were in the Premiership at the time so that made the choice easy for me. I used to go to Villa Park but once I moved up to Liverpool I started watching them and they became my team.

“My Under-17s coach at Liverpool, Dave Shannon, brought me on leaps and bounds. They are such important years for a player when you go from being a lad to trying to compete with men. But I’ve looked more towards other players for my inspiration and to improve my game – Keane, Gerrard, Viera.”

Guthrie cites the furore that erupted last September, following his tackle that broke Craig Fagan’s leg, as the low point of his career. It sidelined the Hull winger for three months and earned Guthrie a red card and widespread condemnation.

“The horrible side of the game,” was how Tigers’ boss Phil Brown described the challenge.

If Guthrie was looking to emulate Keane and Viera he was going the wrong way about it.

His appearances in the second half of last season were fitful as Guthrie attempted to impress the revolving cast of faces in the Newcastle manager’s chair.

“I’ve become used to seeing managers come and go,’’ he said. “Sammy (Lee) had taken me on loan to Bolton, I’m led to believe he’d spoken to the staff at Liverpool with his connections at Anfield and all of that – it’s a small world.

“But unfortunately shortly after I joined, Sammy was given the sack. Kevin Keegan was someone I immediately looked up to and he said nice things about me being the new Rob Lee and I know how much he rated Rob, so that was a huge compliment.

“But a bit like Sammy, Kevin was gone before I’d had a chance to show him what I could do, which was very frustrating.

“This season I’m bumping into a few old faces from my Liverpool and Man United days in the Championship.

Danny (Simpson) has joined us and he’s a great lad.

“Darren Potter, who’s now at Sheffield Wednesday, and Huddersfield right back Lee Peltier were with me at Liverpool. But it’s interesting to see how few of the players who I played with when I was a lad have actually come through.

“It’s one thing to look like a player when you are a 14-yearold but from then on it gets really tough. Physically some lads don’t develop or can’t handle the training.

“You have to be strong mentally because you start to take knocks, you’ll get dropped and you start to see lads you know being let go and that builds the pressure on you to succeed.”

Guthrie’s immediate challenge is to become established in the Newcastle team alongside Smith, but he still harbours bigger ambitions.

“Breaking into the England squad isn’t something I’ve written off,’’ he confessed.

“If I’m honest I’m a bit away from that at the moment but if I can get a couple of years under my belt here at Newcastle I can push on and play for my country.

“The fans are brilliant at St James’. I know from being on the other side of the fence with Liverpool and Bolton how difficult a place this is to come to when the fans are bouncing. Hopefully we can get them bouncing again."