NEWCASTLE UNITED penalty hero Freddie Woodman has targeted a fast promotion to the Premier League and the young goalkeeper believes he is at the right place to achieve his dream of playing at the top.

Woodman stole the headlines with two shootout saves in the Magpies’ FA Youth Cup fifth round derby win over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on Wednesday night.

The 17-year-old, whose father Andy is the club’s goalkeeping coach, has not yet played a senior competitive fixture, but he did have a run of six games on the bench when Tim Krul and Rob Elliot were injured over Christmas.

Woodman is highly-rated by club and country and was part of the England Under-17 squad that won the European Championships in Malta last summer.

And now, after his heroics on Wednesday night, the teenager is targeting a more prominent role at Newcastle having seen several keepers come through the ranks on Tyneside.

“That was one of the reasons why I chose Newcastle,” he said. “I looked at the goalkeepers before and how they had been brought through.

“The likes of Steve Harper, Fraser Forster and Tim (Krul), and I thought to myself this club would be the best chance for me to get into the Premier League as quickly as possible.”

Woodman has been involved in a few derbies at youth level, but more recently he was an unused sub when Alan Pardew’s side were beaten by the Black Cats at St James’ Park in December.

The teenager admits the experience made him realise exactly how much the games meant to supporters and admits being in and around the first team has helped him prepare.

He said: “I see Tim Krul preparing for games and it’s massive for me. Coming into games like this, I was sitting on the bench for the Sunderland game and I knew how much it meant to the fans.

“Even this game there was quite a number of Geordies up there and it was quite a nice feeling when I walked over and they were singing my name.

“On my first derby day I remember saying to the lads and having a joke that it’s not really that big, West Ham v Millwall was a bit better!

“Then when I stepped out into the stand and I was standing there I realised how much it meant to so many people. I know how much it means to get one over on Sunderland.

“It’s massive. I looked on my phone and Twitter was going crazy.”

Newcastle host Chelsea in the quarter-finals and despite losing to the young Blues in last season’s competition, Woodman is feeling confident.

“It’s going to be a hard game. We played them last year and it was really tight, but we can take on anyone,” he said.

“We’ve got quality players and we’ll go out there and enjoy it and see what happens.”

Kevin Richardson’s side edged an intriguing encounter on Wearside with both club’s youngsters producing impressive performances.

Adam Armstrong and Callum Roberts have also tasted first-team action this season and the Under-18s coach, standing in for Dave Watson, believes their progression will give the rest of the squad a boost.

“He (Woodman) has obviously seen Jak and the other players who have come through their academy get their chance.

“All the lads must be thinking ‘if it’s happened to them then it can happen to us.’ That if they work hard and impress then they might get an opportunity.

“Why not some of these lads, but that is up to the manager.”