Michael Smith expects ‘special night’ under Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough lights for Newcastle United visit
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As you may have heard, the Owls forward is going up against the team he supported as a kid this evening in what will be his first competitive meeting with the Magpies, and despite it being an opponent from two divisions above he says that the aim remains the same. To win.
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Hide AdBoth sides are on long unbeaten runs in the Premier League and League One at present, but – for obvious reasons – one side goes into this game as severe favourites in this FA Cup tie.
Eddie Howe has spoken highly of both Wednesday and their manager, Darren Moore, and ‘Smudge’ says that the Owls will be approaching this game just like they do any other.
Speaking to The Star, the 31-year-old said, “Winning breeds confidence, and you want to win every game of football that you go into… As quickly as winning becomes a habit, losing does too - so we want to keep confidence high and keep winning football matches.
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Hide Ad“We approach this like we would a league game, we want to progress. It’ll be a special night under the lights at Hillsborough.”
It’ll come as no surprise that there will be plenty of Smith’s family and friends at Hillsborough given that it’s his current club against his boyhood club – his daughter, however, will certainly be in Wednesday colours.
“I’ve got family coming down,” he explained. “They’ll be in the home end. And I’ve got about 20+ mates who will be in the away end. I’ll have to keep an eye out for them…
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Hide Ad“I opened my daughter’s wardrobe up yesterday and her Wednesday kit is right next to her Newcastle kit. I had a little chuckle to myself, but no, she’ll donning the blue and white don’t worry.”
Newcastle have sold out their 4,500 ticket allocation at Hillsborough, and a crowd of around 30,000 is expected for the televised third round fixture as both sides look to try and book their spot in the next round of the tournament.