Newcastle United defender Davide Santon is amazed by the passion of the Toon support.

He has revealed he was "blown away" by the vociferous Geordie public on his Newcastle United debut.

Santon told the Evening Chronicle: "At the San Siro when Inter play the smaller teams the stadium is empty and there isn't that much noise.

"But here at Newcastle it is always a big crowd.

"I saw the stadium when it was empty and thought it was brilliant. Then at the Blackburn game and I couldn't believe how fantastic the fans were.

"The next level was to play in front of them and it really took me aback."