Harrison Ashby | The Championship is one of the biggest leagues in the world, I’m buzzing to be here

Harrison Ashby is determined to make a positive impact at Swansea City and considers his move to SA1 to be the ideal platform to show what he can do.

The right-back joined Newcastle United in January after spending the early part of his career at West Ham United, and – after six months with the Toon – is raring to go in the Championship after agreeing a season-long loan with the Swans, subject to international clearance.

The 21-year-old is highly-rated and travelled with Newcastle for their pre-season trip to the USA in the Premier League Summer Series, where he made two appearances and started against Brighton and Hove Albion.

And, while he believes training alongside his Magpies teammates has helped him improve his game immeasurably, he’s now determined to show what he’s about in senior football.

“It’s a massive opportunity for me, so to finally be here after a good trip in the US is great,” said Ashby.

“I’m feeling fit and ready and I’m ready to go at it. The facilities are top here so it can’t get much better.

“The conversation with Michael Duff convinced me this was the right place for me. It's everything that I want in terms of style of play, it suits me.

“I’m a right-back or full-back. I can play left-back, which I know some people will be happy to hear!

“I’m feel I’m very attacking. Scoring goals is what everyone wants to do in football and since a young age, I’ve always wanted to score goals. I started off as a number 10, so scoring goals and assisting is something that I want to do.

“I want to bring that to my game here.

“The Championship is one of the biggest leagues in the world so this is a massive step in my career. If I can bring some glory to Swansea at the same time, then that’s a perfect match.”

Swansea City was a destination Ashby knew all about from friend and former West Ham teammate Flynn Downes.

The midfielder had an excellent season in SA1 before his move to the Hammers, and Downes had left Ashby in no doubt that he would relish a spell with the Swans.

“Literally, since the day Flynn arrived in West Ham there wasn’t a day he didn’t speak about the time he had at Swansea, which is a good thing,” he explained.

“He said he loved his time here and it’s probably one of the reasons why I accepted the move really, just from him saying it was one of the best places he’d been.

“For me, that means it must be something good, so he’ll be happy for me anyway.”

Football is something that runs in the family for Ashby. His father Barry made more than 500 career appearances with spells at Watford, Brentford and Gillingham.

He hung up his boots in 2005, but he has been one of the key influences in his son’s football career to date.

“Since the day I started playing football, my dad has been the most harsh critic, but him being there and knowing what it’s taken to get to that point has helped me massively, because he’s been there and done it," he added.

“Whenever I’ve had problems, he’s been the one to push me on and help me get to where I am today.

“As soon as Swansea came knocking, he said a pretty big yes. He knows his stuff, he’s an agent now so he has to know everything, so as soon as Swansea came knocking he was like 'yes, you should definitely seriously consider that one'.

“I think it’s really, really important to get those senior games on your CV. To get as many games as possible, I’ve got to keep myself fit and ready - that is massively important for my career.

“To be at such a great club and do it here, I’m buzzing for it.”