Holland striker Patrick Kluivert has promised
that he will be fighting fit for Newcastle's Premiershipr against
Middlesbrough. The 28-year-old former Barcelona player made his long-awaited
debut for the Magpies as a substitute in Sunday's Newcastle Gateshead Cup
final defeat by Sporting Lisbon and might have claimed a late equaliser had
it not been for Anderson Polga's goal-line clearance.
Kluivert, who was clearly lacking match fitness insists that he will be ready for the trip to The Riverside Stadium on 14 August when he will confront Middlesbrough Dutch colony.
Kluivert: "Yes, yes, I will be fit. I know that I'm not 100% still, but now I'm going to train only with the team and we are playing more games. In the first five days, I ran a lot, but that's for the basic conditioning. Now the most important thing for me is to play and train with the team."
Regarding his substitute appearance when he was given his chance as a 60th-minute replacement for Shearer, he added: "It was a different feeling. If you're playing six years for Barcelona and then you have a different jersey, it's different, but it felt good. The reception - I can say it a thousand times, for a player, it's the best. The reception was terrific. We have a few things to do because not the whole team was playing, but I'm feeling very good."
Kluivert's first match with Newcastle he teamed up with Shola Ameobi, although the former Ajax player faces the task of acclimatising himself also with Shearer and Bellamy.
"I know that they're strikers of high class and sure, I'm impressed - I hope also that they're impressed with me," he said. As long as you train together, you get an understanding with the other players. That's the most important thing, that you get that understanding."
Kluivert, who was clearly lacking match fitness insists that he will be ready for the trip to The Riverside Stadium on 14 August when he will confront Middlesbrough Dutch colony.
Kluivert: "Yes, yes, I will be fit. I know that I'm not 100% still, but now I'm going to train only with the team and we are playing more games. In the first five days, I ran a lot, but that's for the basic conditioning. Now the most important thing for me is to play and train with the team."
Regarding his substitute appearance when he was given his chance as a 60th-minute replacement for Shearer, he added: "It was a different feeling. If you're playing six years for Barcelona and then you have a different jersey, it's different, but it felt good. The reception - I can say it a thousand times, for a player, it's the best. The reception was terrific. We have a few things to do because not the whole team was playing, but I'm feeling very good."
Kluivert's first match with Newcastle he teamed up with Shola Ameobi, although the former Ajax player faces the task of acclimatising himself also with Shearer and Bellamy.
"I know that they're strikers of high class and sure, I'm impressed - I hope also that they're impressed with me," he said. As long as you train together, you get an understanding with the other players. That's the most important thing, that you get that understanding."
