HAD things turned out differently, Andros Townsend could have been preparing for a summer at the European Championships in France. As it is, the Newcastle midfielder finds himself having to contemplate the prospect of a season in the second tier.

Things haven’t exactly gone to plan since January’s £12m move to Tyneside, but despite Newcastle’s struggles in the Premier League relegation zone, Townsend insists he has no regrets about his decision to head to the North-East.

Having been frozen out of the first-team picture under Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino, his career was going nowhere at White Hart Lane.

A cynic might suggest that would still be preferable to the trips to Bristol City and Burton that could be on the cards for next season, but while his international ambitions might be in tatters, Townsend would not do anything differently if he had an opportunity to turn back the clock.

“I definitely don’t have any regrets,” said the 24-year-old. “I’m playing for a massive club and playing Premier League football. I’m playing 90 minutes of games, and I’m 100 per cent delighted with the move I made to Newcastle.

“It’s difficult to say what I thought would happen when I signed. Obviously, when I joined, there were a lot more games left and we were a lot more positive. But this is football, and this season, as you’ve seen, anything can happen.

“We’re in the position we’re in, and we need character now. We need the senior players to stand up and be counted, and drag us out of the situation that we’re in. I’ll certainly be giving absolutely everything to help this club stay in the league.”

Townsend’s international experiences with England mean he is regarded as a senior member of the group, even though Saturday’s appearance in the 3-2 defeat at Norwich was only his fifth Premier League start in a Newcastle shirt.

He was one of the few players willing to take some responsibility for the Magpies’ attacking at Carrow Road, with his driving forward runs standing in marked contrast to the inertia displayed by a number of his team-mates, most notably Georginio Wijnaldum and Moussa Sissoko.

The latter two players have been accused of repeatedly going missing as Newcastle have careered towards the drop, but Townsend has defended the collective motivation and application levels within the squad.

“It’s our livelihood that’s at stake,” he said. “You see the fans out there and see how passionate they are, and we’re desperate to give them something to cheer about. We gave them two goals (at Norwich), but at the end they were just as dejected as we were.

“I know footballers can be labelled as people who don’t care, but you only have to look at the faces in the dressing room to see how much it does mean to us. We’re going to try our hardest to get ourselves out of the situation that we’re in.”

On a personal level, Townsend’s performances in the final seven games are unlikely to earn him a recall to Roy Hodgson’s squad for Euro 2016, but the Londoner, who missed out on the 2014 World Cup because of an untimely ankle injury, insists his international ambitions are firmly at the back of his mind.

“I’m not thinking about England at all – my focus is on Newcastle’s last seven games,” he said. “All I’m thinking about is Newcastle staying in the Premier League.”