EMIL Krafth has opened up on the despair of his Newcastle United injury struggle and is determined to help the Magpies on and off the pitch after extending his stay at the club.

Kraft's contract was due to expire at the end of the season but he's agreed an extension to keep him at St James' Park until the summer of 2025 at least.

The Sweden international has played 73 times since joining United in 2019 but endured a nightmare 14 months on the sidelines after suffering a serious knee injury.

He returned to action in the Carabao Cup win at Manchester United in November and has since made eight further appearances in all competitions.

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"I'm very happy to extend my stay at this great club," said Krafth.

"Since the first day it felt like home and I have enjoyed it. My family love it here as well. It's a great club, a big club and I'm very happy to stay.

"We are on a really good road to what we want to achieve. Newcastle can be one of the biggest clubs in the world in a couple of years."

Krafth said the support of everyone associated with Newcastle helped him through the most testing time of his career.

"It was very difficult," said the defender of his time out injured.

"I was out almost 14 months or something like that. It got a lot easier when I could come back on the pitch and do running drills, but now that's in the past and I don't think about my knee while I'm training or playing,

"I got mentally stronger while I was out. Being out for such a long time is never easy but I had a lot of good people around me, friends and family, players, staff, all the fans who were pushing me all the time.

"It's also down to yourself, how hard you want to work to get through. I worked really hard to get back as soon as possible."

Kraft has Kieran Trippier and Tino Livramento for company at right-back but the 29-year-old, who can also play centre-half, says he'll be ready to take any opportunities that come his way.

He said: "Of course I want to play as much as possible. That's what every player wants,.

"We have so many good players, it's all about competition. The best players should play and I think the lads that have been playing have done a really good job. When you get the chance you need to take it. Of course I want to play but if I don't play I'll keep pushing to help the team."