NEWCASTLE UNITED head into only the second League Cup semi-final in their history this evening, but Eddie Howe is adamant appearing in the last four of the competition will mean nothing if his side fail to make it to next month’s final at Wembley.
The Magpies head to Southampton for the first leg of their semi-final, with the return game due to take place at St James’ Park in seven days’ time.
The club’s only previous appearance at this stage of the League Cup came almost half-a-century ago back in 1976, when a two-legged win over Tottenham took Newcastle to Wembley, where they eventually lost to Manchester City in the final.
Their most recent appearance in any semi-final came in 2005, when they were thrashed 4-1 by Manchester United in the last four of the FA Cup at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium.
Tonight’s game is a landmark occasion, with tickets for the away end having sold out almost as soon as they were made available, but while Howe takes understandable pride in his side’s Carabao Cup progress so far this season, he readily concedes it will be irrelevant if they slip up against Southampton.
“We’re delighted to be where we are, but the semi-final itself isn’t enough,” said Howe, who is likely to name an unchanged starting line-up tonight. “I don’t think it’s enough for anybody.
“You go into these games, and to say that you got to a semi-final means nothing. Ultimately, you want to get one step further, and I know the players feel the same way.
“Me and my coaching team feel passionately about it, that we want to make the final. But we have to navigate these two games and they’re going to be very difficult.”
While Newcastle, as a club, has not experienced a semi-final for almost two decades, the current squad boasts plenty of players who have played in much bigger games than this evening’s.
Kieran Trippier, Fabian Schar, Bruno Guimaraes and Callum Wilson all represented their country at the recent World Cup finals in Qatar, while the likes of Nick Pope and Miguel Almiron are also seasoned internationals. As a result, Howe is confident his side will not be over-awed by the occasion.
“I think past experience helps,” he said. “We've got players who've played at World Cups, title winners within the group and hopefully the calmness they give will rub off on the rest of the players. It is just another game and that's the way we've got to look at it.”
Nevertheless, Howe is hopeful that nights such as this evening will become much more commonplace as Newcastle continue to grow and develop under their Saudi Arabia-backed ownership group.
“I don’t think there can be a ceiling on our ambitions,” he said. “Because if you do put that line there, you never cross it. I’ve said all through my managerial career that I don’t believe in saying you cannot achieve things or that you’re not ready to do this or that yet. Absolutely not. We go into every game with a really positive approach.”
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