Isaac Price Eager for Newcastle Challenge in Carabao Cup

Isaac Price is not hiding it. He wants this.

A trip to St James’ Park, under the lights, against Premier League opposition. For West Bromwich Albion’s young midfielder, Wednesday’s Carabao Cup tie at Newcastle United is exactly the kind of stage he has been waiting for.

“All the lads are buzzing,” he told BBC WM Sport, the adrenaline of Sunday still fresh. “They are the games you want to be drawn in, in the cup – to go and play away at a Premier League team and at a place where we can go and show our quality. I can't wait.”

From Burnley brace to Tyneside test

Price goes into the second-round clash in full stride. He struck twice in Albion’s 3-1 win over Burnley at The Hawthorns, a result that kept James Morrison’s side perfect in the league and cemented their place near the top of the Championship table.

Albion sit second, with two wins from two in the Championship. They have already navigated one potential slip in the EFL Cup, seeing off League Two Rotherham United in the first round to earn this eye-catching meeting with Newcastle.

The Magpies, for their part, opened their league campaign with a chaotic 2-2 draw against Liverpool at St James’ Park. Now they welcome a Championship side brimming with confidence and, crucially, scarred by what happened last year.

Lessons from a near-miss

Price has not forgotten how quickly things unravelled 12 months ago. Albion also started brightly then, only for performances and results to nosedive under Ryan Mason. By the end of the season, they were hanging on to their Championship status.

“We had this last year – we started really well and it went downhill pretty fast,” he said. “So it is about keeping our feet on the ground, keeping a level of consistency in performances to make sure that doesn't happen again.”

That experience has hardened him. There is no talk of momentum carrying them anywhere yet, only of managing what is directly in front of them.

“Every game in the Championship is tough and it doesn't matter who you play,” Price added. “You are always learning as a player, even the lads who have played 2, 3, 400 games. It's about managing games and moments – we conceded a lot of goals that we shouldn't have last season and we didn't score enough at the other end.

“This year I want to be a key player where I show that that can't happen and I want to be a leader in this team to make sure it doesn't happen.”

For a Northern Ireland international still early in his career, that is a deliberate raising of the bar. He is not just talking about his own numbers, but about responsibility when matches turn frantic and fragile.

Morrison’s imprint on a restless club

If Price is the emerging voice on the pitch, Morrison is the steady hand off it.

The former Scotland international stepped in as interim head coach in February after Eric Ramsay was sacked, with Albion staring at the trapdoor. What followed changed the mood of the club: a ten-match unbeaten run that dragged them away from danger and convinced the hierarchy to hand him the job permanently.

Morrison knows the place better than almost anyone. He played 341 times for West Brom, scoring goals, riding promotions and relegations, living the full cycle of the club.

“It's helpful for all the lads,” Price said. “He knows the club inside out. He's really humble – you wouldn't know day to day how many games he played and how many goals he scored for West Brom because he doesn't talk about it, but he is a legend and the lads love him.

“He's good around the changing room and he understands what we need. We look really good on the pitch at the moment, so it is about building the consistency which is what he wants.”

That word again: consistency. It runs through Price’s assessment of everything – his own game, the squad’s mentality, Morrison’s demands. The scars of last season have turned into a clear message: no one at Albion is getting carried away by a strong August.

But a shot at Newcastle, away from the grind of the league, offers something different. A chance to measure themselves against a side built for European nights, to see if this new, more streetwise West Brom can hold their nerve on one of English football’s grandest stages.

Price is ready to find out.