Former Valencia assistant manager Ian Cathro has said that he is not taking step a backwards by joining Newcastle United.

The 28-year-old is due to take up the role of assistant to Steve McClaren at the Magpies, following his exit from Valencia in May.

"It's a forward step to a different type of football. Not stronger or weaker, different," he told BBC Sport.

"I wanted a fresh challenge and didn't want to just sit it out over there and wait for the right manager's job to come up.

"To come into British football as a manager with no experience of working with English-speaking players is perhaps not advisable anyway so this makes perfect sense."

Cathro has spent the previous three years working alongside Nuno Espirito Santo at Rio Ave and Valencia.