Newcastle United supporters could be the difference at Wembley today, according to Eddie Howe.
Black-and-white shirts in their tens of thousands have taken over London as the Magpies look to end their 70 year wait for a domestic trophy and the Toon boss has urged the fans in attendance to help push the team over the line.
Emotions will be running high under the arches during the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool, but this could finally be the year many fans get to see Lads lift a domestic cup for the first time.
Bring the noise and help the team overcome the odds to become Carabao Cup winners; you can be the 12th man and the difference maker at Wembley, insists Eddie Howe.
The boss has no doubts that the fans will roar the team on as they did on Monday against West Ham to gather momentum ahead of the final.
“I’m sure they will be \[the 12th man\] for us. I think they always are, they were at West Ham,” Howe said. “We know from the last time we got to the final, the scenes driving up to Wembley, the feeling of support and unity that we have.
“The expression the fans give in every game is huge for us and yeah, we’re going to need them, we’re absolutely going to need that 50% to turn into 55% if possible. We need every bit of help we can to push us over the line.”
Newcastle have to use the trophy drought as a motivation, not view it as a hindrance, as they have a chance to make history today.
Be the better team over 90 minutes of football and this United side will never be forgotten, it’s a big game for the big players and we’ll need to be at our best to overcome Arne Slot’s Reds, but as Howe says: “Our destiny is in our hands.”
“I think it’s a real motivation for us to try and break that long time and that long wait that everyone’s feeling,” said the Mag manager. “It should be inspiring for us – not a negative. I understand it will be a negative or a perceived negative for a lot of people, but we’re trying to look at it the other way round.
“It’s a chance to make history for us as a team – that’s very rare in football. You get very few opportunities to do that, a chance to be remembered positively.
“I want the players to look at it that way, as I said earlier, to attack the game and to get a good representation of us. We are positive. Our destiny is in our own hands. It is about us delivering a great performance.”
HOWAY THE LADS!