NEWCASTLE-lad Adam Armstrong insisted Saints will need to “turn the St James’ Park crowd right away” on Tuesday if he is to fulfil a childhood dream of playing in a cup final at Wembley. His goal was ruled out by VAR for accidental handball just minutes after Joelinton had opened the scoring in the EFL Cup semi-final’s first leg. Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope went on to keep a 10th consecutive clean sheet while his team have not lost at home during the entirety of the 2022-23 campaign so far. But despite the odds being stacked against them ahead of the trip to the North East on Tuesday, January 31 – also transfer deadline day – Armstrong retains “100 per cent” confidence.
Adam Armstrong said: “We’re looking forward to the next leg because it will be a massive game and we’re only 1-0 down, we’re still right in it. 100 per cent, we’re going there with confidence again and we’ve got nothing to lose. It will be a really good atmosphere, I’ve seen it first-hand myself and it’s an unbelievable stadium. We’re going to have to turn the crowd right away. We do have to start taking our chances because we’re getting a lot now in the second-half of games.”
Adam Armstrong added: “We’re staying in games at half-time now so we just have to put them away and we’ve stopped giving away sloppy goals, but I know they scored on the counter. They’ve put a ball across and had a tap in from a few yards, that can’t happen, the gaffer (Nathan Jones) is mad on that. We can’t give goals away but it’s something that we will work on. It’s nothing to lose, we’ve got to put on a good performance because it’s a chance to get to Wembley. It’s every kid’s dream to get to Wembley. It’s certainly mine and something I’m looking forward to trying to achieve. We have to take confidence in everything we can at this point, the lads are upset they’ve been beaten but we’ve got to dust down and prepare for the weekend.”
The former England under-21 international’s ruled out goal would have been only his third in all competitions this season and a fifth in a Saints shirt since a £15million move from Blackburn Rovers. VAR overturned the decision after a tussle in the six-yard box between the imperious Dan Burn and Armstrong saw legs locked and the ball bounce into his arm.
Adam Armstrong said: “That’s football and we’ve seen decisions like that all year, I know it’s handball even though it’s accidental but that’s the rules nowadays. It’s harsh but we have to just take it and move onto the next leg. I looked on the big screen after it and it’s hit my arm but you just have to get on with it, it’s one of those things.”
