AYOZE PEREZ got something of a wake-up call when he played in the Championship for the first time earlier this month. Playing in the No 10 role at Fulham, he seemed to turn into trouble every time he was fed the ball into feet.

He lost his place a week later when the Magpies were beaten at home by Huddersfield, but hopes to have come to terms with what is required ahead of this evening’s visit of Brighton to St James’ Park … his two goals against Shrewsbury Town in the EFL Cup should also provide lift-off.

It may seem strange to think that a young player often linked with Real Madrid and Barcelona could find it hard at Craven Cottage and adjusting to life in the second tier.

Perez has never asked to leave, nor is he going to, because he is keen to repay the club which gave him a Premier League chance two years ago following his switch from Tenerife.

"I have always been happy ever since I came here,” said Perez. “That did not change even when we were relegated. Of course, that was bad but not once have I thought about leaving this club.

“It is a professional thought thinking about what is best for my career, I always look at today rather than the future and today I am happy at Newcastle. As a professional, you should not think too much about the future. If you are happy in one place why leave?

"For me, what was the point of thinking ‘I could go anywhere because for my career, this is good for me?’ Of course, during the summer, I could have gone to other teams but I am still here. For me, the most important thing is being focused. Newcastle is where I am now.”

What about the Barcelona link? He said: "That is something big - but, as I said, if I started thinking 'Barcelona, oh Barcelona', it would be wrong for me, so I just kept focusing on Newcastle and the city because I'm a Newcastle player.

"This club gave me everything. When I came here I was a very young professional so here was where everything started for me.”

Lining up in La Liga as part of an impressively assembled Barcelona team would be a lot easier than trying to come to terms with the Championship. The 23-year-old admits playing at that level of football will take some getting used, but he is confident of succeeding.

"It is tougher. 100 per cent,” said Perez, expected to lead the line against Brighton in the absence of Dwight Gayle and Aleksandar Mitrovic.

“But we have now adapted to this league and are beginning to get the right results. We are becoming more confident and playing better football, doing better things.

“There is still a lot of work to do. But this league is so hard, we have a lot of games, there is little time for rest. It is tough but we have a good squad to live with that which you really need in this league.”

Having got off the mark for the season with his brace against Shrewsbury, the Spaniard is looking to now hit his first league goal since March.

He said: "There's no real pressure on me. I don't feel it. As a striker, of course you have to score goals but everyone in this squad is capable of doing it. We will focus on Brighton and thinking about winning the game.

"Teams in the Championship are desperate to beat us because we are Newcastle. You can see it in their eyes. We are the biggest club in this league and they want to be able to say they stopped Newcastle or they beat Newcastle.

"Just look at the way Fulham and Huddersfield celebrated after the game. It was a big moment for them to beat a club like this. Now we know what to expect. It will be the same in every game. Maybe it was a shock at first but now we know every team will raise their game against us.”