Chelsea goal scorer Eddie Newton (left) and Frank Sinclair celebrating with the FA Cup in 1997

Eddie Newton has a blunt message for Albion’s players. Roberto Di Matteo’s assistant says his new charges must savour every second of their careers.

Newton knows all too well that playing days can be ended without warning, having had his own career cut short cruelly by a knee injury at the age of just 28.

Nine years on the former Chelsea midfielder is back in the game and relishing a new challenge at The Hawthorns.

And Newton says the pain of his own premature retirement is driving him to make a success of his second football career.

“I was a player and I didn’t get to go the full length of my career,” said Newton, who cut his teeth in first team coaching as Di Matteo’s right-hand man at MK Dons last season.

“It was cut short at 28 and for me that was hard.

“I like the buzz of being back in it, being in and around the club and having the banter with the staff and players and then having the passion of driving it from the sidelines, driving the sessions in training and seeing the players improve.

“That gives you a buzz. It’s second-best to being a footballer and it always will be but it’s the best I can get and I like doing it.”

Newton is surrounded in the new-look Hawthorns coaching team by people who understand his pain.

Both head coach Di Matteo and first team coach Michael Appleton were forced into retirement by knee injuries, but Newton says the experience gets the competitive juices flowing in the trio.

“I’ve got the drive and hunger to be in it and that’s why I’m here,” said Newton. “I’m not here to just pick up my cheque.

“I want to be successful and that’s what drives me. That’s what drives Roberto and that’s what drives Michael Appleton and Ade Mafe.

“That’s what should drive everybody and if we see players not doing it we will pull them to the side and make them understand what could be on the flip side of what they’re doing.

“We understand what it’s like waking up in the morning and not going into training and knowing that you’re not playing on a Saturday. We’ve been there and it’s hard to take.”

Newton arrived at The Hawthorns with Di Matteo and fitness coach Ade Mafe with the three Chelsea old-boys having reunited at MK Dons last season. Appleton has joined the first-team setup having earned his coaching badges in the youth team ranks with Albion.

But it is the ex-Stamford Bridge trio who have emerged as the first team ‘think tank’ and Newton says they established a solid working relationship.

The 37-year-old admits it was tough to turn has back on Stadium MK after helping take the Dons to the League One play-offs last season.

But he believes the move to Albion will provide the platform for them to fulfil their coaching ambitions.

“Robby, Ade and myself are very ambitious,” said Newton. “We want to work at the top level and for us this is a club that’s got all the set-up and the resources that we feel matches our ambitions. No disrespect to MK, who were fantastic. We loved the people there and it was a wrench to leave, but we want to fulfil our ambitions and go right to the top.

“Robby has taken some stuff from Italy and I am taking stuff from being a player and a coach and having two different eras at Chelsea.

“We’ve put a system together that we know works. Ade complements us very well and that’s how we’ll be running things.”

MK Dons established a reputation for attractive football as they claimed third place in League One last season before losing out in the play-offs.

And Newton says the backroom team will bring their principles to The Hawthorns, while keeping in mind that victories are all-important.

“We want the boys playing a very similar style,” he said. “We want a very high tempo and want them to get the ball on the ground and move it quickly.

“We are just introducing the boys to the brand of football that we want to play and they seem to be taking to it very well.

“We can see a difference already in the way they’re moving the ball so it’s pleasing.

“The club is very well run. There are some good people working here and they have made us feel very welcome.

“There is a great squad of players and they are good in terms of character as well and it’s been a delight to work with them so far.

“We feel that the football we play is very penetrative but attractive but what we need to do is make sure it gets results at the same time.”