DISH OF THE DAY

‘Pot-washer’ Jacob’s twin it to win it

JACOB MURPHY recalls the Saturday night graft that prepared him and twin brother Josh for their pitch battle this weekend.

Earning a couple of quid an hour, the Murphy brothers were sent to the kitchen in their parents’ restaurant, Arbuckles, in Downham Market, Norfolk.

“We’d be on the pot wash. Dirty dishes everywhere,” said Jacob. “Looking back it was good fun. At the time I used to hate it but it was mum and dad’s way of showing us, if you don’t stick at football this is what you’ll be doing. “They did pay us – two pounds an hour or something aged 14 or 15. It was to teach us some life lessons.” It must have worked as the 23-year-olds are about to go head-to-head in the Premier League – Jacob for Newcastle versus Josh for Cardiff. There has never been a rivalry between the two. They speak on the phone each day and had each other’s back when coming through the ranks at Norwich. “We’ve never played against each other competitively,” said Jacob. “It’ll be strange having to tackle him. “We will swap shirts at fulltime. Or maybe half-time and have a go on each other’s teams. “The family will be torn. They have the Newcastle loyalty as fans, but also the son loyalty. “They will both want us to have a good game and the best team to win. I want a Murphy goal and a Newcastle win.

“We’ve never had a rivalry. We just support and help each other. Each club will say they’ve got the better twin. I am ready for that. Our games are different. He plays left, I’m on the right. We both play off either foot.”

There is another brother, Daniel, who is hoping for a place to study business at Newcastle University.

“I want him to come and rent a room off me,” said Jacob. “When we used to practise in the garden, we’d stick little brother in goal. It was nice to have a football buddy.

Tactics

“Aged 16 was when it started to become real and we thought, ‘Wow, this could become a job for us’. And it did.”

Will he speak to Josh this week? “We won’t talk tactics before the game,” he said. “I want three points and so does he.”

NEWCASTLE full-back DeAndre Yedlin’s knee injury is not as bad as first feared.

The 25-year-old was injured against Spurs on Saturday but a club statement said: “He has been assessed and undergone treatment this week and is likely to resume training with team-mates shortly.”