KIERAN TRIPPIER admits he has been taking a crash-course in Newcastle United’s history ahead of tomorrow evening’s Carabao Cup semi-final first leg with Southampton.

Having played in a European Championship final and a World Cup semi-final, as well as the final of the Champions League, Trippier is hardly a stranger to big occasions.

However, he is playing for a club that does not have a proud recent record when it comes to making it through to the biggest matches on the footballing calendar, with tonight’s game representing Newcastle’s first appearance in the last four of the League Cup since the mid-1970s.

Newcastle have never played at the ‘new Wembley’, and with boyhood United fans Dan Burn and Sean Longstaff an integral part of the current starting line-up, Trippier and the rest of his team-mates have been left in no doubt as the importance of the club’s next two matches.

“We’ve got Dan and Sean, and loads of players who are Geordies, and they to drill it into the boys how much it would mean to get to a final and to win a cup,” said the Magpies’ on-field skipper. “You look at Dan, who is Newcastle through and through, and Longs as well. They know how much it means to represent the club in the first place, and to play for the club in a semi-final of a cup.

“We need to keep pushing. We need to listen to them. We listen to their stories and talk about the history of the club, and we know that. For all the new players who have come in, like myself, it is important to understand and learn about the history of the club, and we certainly are. Tuesday is a huge game.”

Trippier has led by example ever since walking through the door at St James’ Park a little over a year ago, and the 32-year-old will be a pivotal figure both on and off the pitch over the course of the next seven days.

His extensive international experience means he will certainly not be fazed by a cup semi-final, and he is determined to do all he can to ensure his less-experienced team-mates are not overawed by the occasion.

“Some of the players might not have been in a semi-final of a cup before, but for myself, I’ve had a lot of games in these type of situations, so I can try to help as much as I can,” said Trippier. “It’s a big game, we know it is, for the history of the club, but we want to stick with what we are doing and keep going.”

Trippier’s main message ahead of tomorrow’s first leg will be to avoid doing anything too differently just because it is a cup semi-final.

“We might not get this opportunity again, so we need to be ourselves, stick to the basics, listen to the manager’s game plan and take it as another game,” said the full-back. “We have to enjoy it, that is the most important thing. It is a semi-final of a cup, and it is great for the club, the history of the club, but the priority is to get the win.”

Newcastle were 4-1 winners when they last visited St Mary’s in November, but since then, Southampton have sacked Ralph Hasenhuttl and replaced him with Nathan Jones.

The Saints are rooted to the foot of the Premier League table in the wake of their weekend defeat to Aston Villa, but served notice of their capabilities as they produced the performance of the round in the quarter-finals to knock out Manchester City.

“It’s going to be a tough game,” said Magpies goalkeeper Nick Pope, who kept his sixth successive Premier League clean sheet at Crystal Palace at the weekend. “It’s away from home, and it’s the first leg of a major semi-final. They have improved in recent weeks, so it will be difficult.”