ROLANDO AARONS is hoping to line up against Raheem Sterling when Newcastle entertain Liverpool tomorrow – but the teenager insists it is far too early to be comparing him to his fellow Jamaica-born winger.

Having burst onto the first-team scene with a goalscoring cameo against Crystal Palace in August, Aarons further enhanced his blossoming reputation when he scored the opening goal of Wednesday’s Capital One Cup fourth-round win over Manchester City.

His pace and direct attacking style have already seen him compared to Sterling, with the two players boasting major similarities despite being at a different stage of their career trajectory. Both were born in the Jamaican capital Kingston, both emigrated to England at the age of five, both are equally adept in a wide position or cutting infield and both have been assiduously courted by the England set-up in order to prevent them representing the land of their birth.

Had Aarons, an England under-20 international, not picked up a hamstring injury shortly after his substitute appearance against Crystal Palace, there is a suggestion Roy Hodgson might have invited him to September’s senior internationals in order to further cement his position in the England set-up.

With his first Premier League start surely not too far away, tomorrow’s game could provide an opportunity to assess 18-year-old Aarons alongside 19-year-old Sterling at first hand, but the Newcastle winger believes such a comparison would be grossly unfair.

“Raheem Sterling has played really well for the last two or three seasons, and I’m nowhere near that level yet,” said Aarons, who joined Newcastle’s academy in 2012 following his release from Bristol City. “I’m not Raheem Sterling – and Raheem Sterling is not me.

“I don’t want people to compare us, although he’s obviously a player that I admire. I’m nothing like him and I’ve got a long way to go before I can even consider myself to be anywhere like that.

“He’s played for England at the World Cup, and I’ve only played three or four games for Newcastle United. I don’t think there’s any reason to get carried away – I’m just focusing on playing football.”

Nevertheless, despite only signing his first professional contract in April, Aarons suddenly finds himself thrust into the spotlight as Newcastle’s bright young midfield hope, and while Alan Pardew was always going make changes on Wednesday, it was still telling that he felt comfortable selecting the teenager ahead of £8m summer signing Remy Cabella.

Having impressed during this summer’s pre-season programme, most notably during the Schalke 04 Cup in Germany where he scored one goal and set up another, Aarons hoped this would be the season where he began to make his mark on the first team. Even in his wildest dreams, however, he surely cannot have imagined the kind of instant impact he has enjoyed.

“I always hoped this would be my breakthrough season,” he said. “I worked really hard last year to try to get to a position where I could challenge for the first team, and when I came back for pre-season I was planning to break through and really push myself. I wasn’t expecting to go to the Etihad and score within six minutes though.

“I’m aware of people talking now, but it doesn’t really bother me. I’m just focusing on playing football, and what other people are saying about me, or the praise that I’ve been getting, doesn’t really affect what I’m doing. I know I can play much better than I have been, and I’m just working on my game every day in training to try to make sure that happens.”

It is the quality of his training-ground work that has earned him his opportunities in the first team, with Pardew having been impressed by his maturity and conduct both on and off the pitch.

“He has a massive asset, which is pace,” said the Newcastle boss. “I saw recently that (Phil) Jagielka is supposedly the quickest player in the Premier League. Well, I’d back Rolando and Gabriel Obertan against him any day of the week.

“He also has a nice temperament, I think he is a good person. I think he had some troubles at Bristol City, but I really like him as a person. He has got his feet on the ground.

“He has tremendous potential, and this could be a breakthrough season for him. It definitely could be, although he has still got a bit to go yet.”

Aarons is available for tomorrow’s game with Liverpool despite being substituted at the half-time interval of Wednesday’s League Cup win, with his failure to appear for the second half an issue of fatigue rather than injury.

“It wasn’t a knock, to be honest I was just knackered,” said Aarons. “I came in at the break and it was pretty obvious I was exhausted. I only trained on Monday and Tuesday – that was pretty much the only real work I’d done for six weeks.

“I didn’t know I was going to be starting, so when the gaffer told me I was going to be starting the game, there was a little bit of me that thought, ‘Am I ready?’ But the early goal obviously settled all that down. I think I proved to myself that I’m back and ready to play as much as possible now.”

Cheick Tiote will not be involved in tomorrow’s game, but it is hoped Papiss Cisse’s knee problem will have eased sufficiently for him to return to the squad.