Exclusive: Danny Simpson Backs Newcastle to End Trophy Drought and Stun Liverpool at Wembley

Danny Simpson is backing his former club Newcastle United to end a 70-year wait for 'major' silverware.

The Magpies hammered Arsenal 4-0 on aggregate across two legs to book their place in this year’s Carabao Cup final, and if they can maintain their fantastic run and beat Liverpool at Wembley, the club would claim their first trophy since 1969.

Newcastle’s last trophy was the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and, prior to that, winning the FA Cup in 1955.

“Newcastle fans deserve a trophy,” stressed Simpson, who played 138 times for the Tynesiders from 2009-2013.

“For me personally, having played for Newcastle, and being a Man Utd fan, well I’d love to see Newcastle beat Liverpool."

“We don’t want Liverpool winning everything do we?"

“I was really impressed with the team and how they played against Arsenal, I was impressed with their tactics and how they pressed them."

“It looks like the Newcastle players believe in it [the project], they believe in themselves and the manager [Eddie Howe]."

“And they should believe, they should be getting to finals because Newcastle is a massive club, especially compared to a few years ago.”

WEMBLEY FINAL HEARTBREAK

Newcastle reached the Carabao Cup final two years ago, but suffered agony with a 1-0 loss to Manchester United in the capital.

But Simpson, who won promotion to the Premier League with the club in 2010 – and who played three seasons in the top flight with the Magpies – is confident that sobering experience will make the current team stronger for a second shot at honours.

“The players that were involved in that defeat in the final a couple of years ago, well they’ll have learn from that and going to play at Wembley will have done them a lot of good,” added Simpson.

“It’s about the whole week before the game, the build-up and all that comes with getting to a final."

“This time they’re going into the match knowing what to expect. They’re more experienced in terms of that."

“It looks like tactics are right. The manager is doing a great job and the personnel look good."

“And they you’ve got a striker like Alexander Isak up front. You’ve got a striker who can bang in goals and do what he’s doing, it just fills you with confidence."

“You know you’ve always got a chance of winning when you’ve got a striker like that, full of confidence and who can find the back of the net."

“The other players are always going to put a shift it and keel clean sheets, they did that twice against Arsenal, which was a great effort.”

BETTER EQUIPPED TO DEAL WITH DEMANDS

Newcastle are flying high in sixth place in the Premier League and are on a remarkable run of 12 wins from their last 14 games in all competitions.

They are also vying for honours in the FA Cup as well as chasing down a coveted place in Europe next season.

“I knew they were going to struggle last year playing in the Champions League and the Premier League,” said Simpson.

“We did it at Leicester – and it’s really hard. It’s such a massive difference on your workload."

“When you’ve got Saturday to Saturday just to prepare for a league game, well it’s just so much easier than preparing for European games in midweek."

“But to now have that experience under their belt of what’s required, I think Eddie Howe has said it himself, the European experience has helped him."

“They’re in that mindset now where they can get themselves ready for a big match every two and a half days."

“It’s all about getting your preparation right – and they seem to have done great with that."

“They want to play in a certain way, high energy, pressing and everyone going at it, it’s obviously a lot better when you don’t have a midweek game in Europe, especially with all the travel that’s associated with it."

“I’ve been really impressed with them this season.”