Newcastle’s record in the FA Cup has been far from good of late – not advancing past the Fifth Round since 2007, and being knocked out by lower league opposition on five occassions.
Under guidance of Steve Bruce, who won the FA Cup with Manchester United, Longstaff claims the players are ready to try and rid the club of a terrible record. Sean Longstaff feels Newcastle United have enough quality in their side to get past League One Rochdale in The FA Cup. Despite a team decimated with injury, which has forced Steve Bruce to draft in several members of the U23 squad, Longstaff is confident that if Newcastle do the ‘little things’ right – they’ll make into through to Round Four.
Sean Longstaff said “The FA Cup though is something as a young lad I remember watching – and is always a pleasure to play in it. It would be massive for the players and the fans – they deserve a cup run. I don’t know how long it’s been since we made it to a quarter-final or even a really big tie in the cup but we’ll see tomorrow that they’ll [the fans] go all the way down to Rochdale and be supporting us like they always do. The manager has said that the semi-final and final days are the best ones of your life – for someone like him to say it, you obviously listen. For him to have experienced that first hand you have to listen to what he says.”
It was against Blackburn in the FA Cup last season that Sean Longstaff broke into the XI, and scored in the replay at Ewood Park. His experience – of a youngster being promoted from the youth ranks to the first team, is one that he is keen to see happen to the likes of Elias Sorensen, and Tom Allan.