Georginio Wijnaldum Promises "More Goals And More Action" For Newcastle This Season

Georginio Wijnaldum was overwhelmed by the atmosphere at St James' Park during his Premier League debut - and promised he "wants to score more goals and make action" for Newcastle United this season following his opening strike for the club. The 24-year-old was denied a dream debut despite putting Newcastle 2-1 up with a magnificent header in the second-half after Shane Long equalised for Southampton in the 79th minute during the Magpies' Barclays Premier League opener on Sunday. And, despite being "sad" that Newcastle could only draw 2-2, Wijnaldum has declared that there is still far more to come from him. Incredibly, Wijnaldum enjoyed a 95% pass-completion rate (21 passes), 37 touches and a goal during the 81 minutes he played before being replaced by Siem de Jong.

And, speaking after the game on Sunday, Wijnaldum told Sky Sports:

"(I enjoyed it) very much today because I already was looking forward to playing the game today and I had read a lot of good stories about the fans and the atmosphere here in the stadium and today I see it with my own eyes and I like it. I enjoyed the game. "Yes it is harder (physically in the Premier League) than the Dutch League but I like it also. "It is a really good start (for me) and that's why I wanted to celebrate the goal with the fans. I think it's great if you can score on your debut - but yeah it's sad that we don't (didn't) win the game. "First I want to play good games - I want to score goals, make action and show how good I am. As a team we must win a lot of games to rank higher than we did last year so that's what I want to do. I want to show the people how good I can play football."

The Toon faithful will hope Wijnaldum can deliver on his promises in the weeks and months to come - because if he does, then there's exciting times ahead for Newcastle United. CLICK HERE to read the Match Report from Newcastle United 2-2 Southampton.And CLICK HERE to read the Player Ratings from the game.Finally, CLICK HERE to read "10 Things We Learned From The Game".For all the latest NUFC News, Views and Transfers make sure to follow WhatCulture.com/NUFC on Twitter and Facebook.