Darlow wants Magpies to make their mark in Cup
KARL Darlow insists Newcastle’s squad can write their own history in the FA Cup.
The Magpies reached the quarter-finals for the first time in 14 years with a 3-2 win at West Brom on Tuesday.
Newcastle have not reached the final since losing to Manchester United in 1999, having been beaten by Arsenal at Wembley the year before.
They are 90 minutes from a Wembley semi-final and Darlow believes the team can go far in the competition after victory at The Hawthorns.
The goalkeeper said: “We’ve named strong sides, if you like, and for a club as big as Newcastle, why can’t we go further?
“Obviously the club’s not done great in the past, but the manager came out in the press and set his sights out to get as far in the competition as we can.”
Miguel Almiron’s double and Valentino Lazaro’s strike ended a month-long wait for a goal for Newcastle.
Matt Phillips and Kenneth Zohore scored in the last 16 minutes for the Baggies but Newcastle deserved to go through in the end.
“Obviously there was a little bit of relief in the end,” admitted Darlow.
“The final few minutes were a bit twitchy after they got the second, but before that I felt we were very comfortable and played some very good football for 70 or 75 minutes.
“West Brom are a very good side — they’re top of the Championship and we knew we were going to be in for a tough test.
“We started off very well, passed the ball nicely and to create the chances that we did — and score three goals — was very good.”
Albion are top of the Sky Bet Championship by a point and are now left to focus on their promotion push.
“I think first half we were a bit tentative, we showed them a bit too much respect,” forward Kyle Edwards said.
“It cost us, they got their two goals quickly.
“In the second half we showed our quality and we showed that we can compete with them. We were unlucky not to get more from the game. We had quite a few chances so it’s disappointing really.
“In the dressing room everyone is still quite proud of the performance.
“Everyone feels that we did well but it’s more of a ‘what might have been’.”