Shola Ameobi nurturing the next generation of Newcastle sharp-shooters as 'Mackem Slayer' leads Notts County's promotion drive

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Shola Ameobi is thinking back to the time he scored against Barcelona at the age of 21, after being asked to cover for the suspended Alan Shearer and Craig Bellamy.

Then he shakes his head, deciding that isn't his favourite goal. Instead, it has to be his volley against Sunderland amid Newcastle United's 5-1 humiliation of their neighbours.

Scoring at the Nou Camp is one thing, but scoring against Sunderland is another. No contest.

Shola Ameobi celebrates his favourite goal, in Newcastle's 5-1 drubbing of Sunderland in 2010

Ameobi loved playing against Newcastle's north-east rivals Sunderland, scoring seven times

'As a special moment, that was right up there,' Ameobi says of Barcelona. 'That was one of those moments in my career where I thought, 'If I can do it here…'

'But ultimately, as a Newcastle fan, scoring against Sunderland in the 5-1, the volley, the game, the atmosphere, the technique. That one. I loved playing and scoring against Sunderland.

'The fact I get called The Mackem Slayer… it's not a name I probably would have picked but that's what I'm stuck with. You've just got to go with it. Destiny.'

Now back in black and white for League Two Notts County, with former Newcastle team-mate Kevin Nolan as his manager, Ameobi still gets sentimental seeing himself in those iconic stripes. It only adds to the nostalgia that they too are nicknamed The Magpies.

This is not to suggest he has cut his ties to Newcastle, however.

Ameobi was only 21 when he scored for Newcastle against Barcelona in the Nou Camp in 2002

Ameobi scores Newcastle's equalising goal against Sunderland in their March 2012 meeting

On his days off from Notts, the 35-year-old makes the 320-mile round trip 'home' to the North East to coach his former club's youngsters at their training ground.

Ameobi went through the same system before going on to score seven senior goals against Sunderland – the most of any Newcastle player in the Premier League era.

Now, despite trying to slay his way through football's fourth tier, he wants to help nurture the next generation of Geordie goalscorers.

'I'm doing my coaching badges and I've been working with the academy at Newcastle,' Ameobi says. 'I still am, helping out on days off. It's home.

'It's something I'm passionate about. I work with the academy players, the schoolboys, from 12 to 16. Sessions, groups, working with strikers.

'I feel I have a responsibility. I look back at the way I came through the club.

In total, Ameobi scored 79 goals for Newcastle during his 14 years with the Tyneside club

One of Ameobi's final goals for Newcastle came in a League Cup match at Morecambe in 2013

'You aspire to the guys in the first team and you aspire to the guys who have done it. They inspired me. That's what I want to do for these younger players.

'I feel there haven't been enough players coming through the academy at Newcastle. It's something that if I can help one or two per cent, then I feel obliged.'

It was Sir Bobby Robson who handed Ameobi his first-team debut in 2000 – in a 0-0 draw against Chelsea in the Premier League.

Asked about his former mentor, who passed away in July 2009, Ameobi puffs out his cheeks and says: 'Where do I start? As a young 18-year-old, getting snapped up from the youth team and put on that stage, it was very tough.

'One thing that I will say is he was a man who understood players. He was a proper man-manager. He understood what made you tick, he understood when you needed a push, he understood when you needed pulling back. That, for me, was the genius of the man.

'Right up until he died, he was a mentor to me. He kept getting in touch. He was a father figure to me.'

Ameobi always found that the city of Newcastle beats to the rhythm of the football club. When they lose, you can sense it throughout the week.

Now aged 35, Ameobi plays for Notts County in League Two and is leading a promotion push

Ameobi on the ball for the Magpies during their League Two match with Accrington Stanley

He sees a similarity in Nottingham, though County were in a precarious position when he joined in February.

They were 90th out of 92 Football League clubs, there had been a transfer embargo, a winding-up petition, and there was an unmistakable sombre mood.

'It was on its knees,' says Ameobi, who spoke to Sportsmail after training with Notts. 'I could sense that, the first time I came into the dressing room.

'The players had played three games under Kevin at the time and won one and drawn one, but before that they had lost 10 in a row. You could see that. It is hard to escape that.

'It's the oldest club in the world (founded in 1862) and there's a lot of prestige there. It's about trying to get that honour back.'

Ameobi is hopeful he will someday be back at Newcastle officially, rather than as a coach on his days off.

For now, though, he has a job to do with Notts County. They are fifth under Nolan, in the play-off places and hope their soon-to-be 36-year-old striker can guide them towards League One.