Cup tie with the Bees has Cal buzzing

CALLUM Wilson has insisted Newcastle United are taking their League Cup quarter-final with Brentford seriously as the club bid for their first semi-final in this competition since 1976.

Back then, it was Malcolm Macdonald who led the line for the Geordie fans as they found a way past Tottenham to reach the final at Wembley.

A last-four place is a potential 90 minutes away against the Bees and Wilson - who is expected to play - cannot wait.

The striker said: “Any chance you have to get into a semi-final you know you are so close to a final now, the games get more and more important.

“I think it has been a long time since the club reached a semi-final.

“I have never played in a semifinal so I would love that as well as people at the club.

“We will be working hard to make sure we do that.

“Part of the reason why I joined the club was to try to win more games and win things. This is a great opportunity for us.

“We have a reasonable amount of points in the league but our focus now takes us to the cup and we look to reach the final.

“It is against a team I back us to beat and if we get past Brentford all of a sudden you don’t know what happens in the draw - you might get something which favours you.

“We need to work hard and focus on this game, looking to get to the semi-final - that is the most important thing.”

Wilson will hope he can add to his tally of eight so far this season in the Premier League but is yet to get off the mark in the League Cup.

The £20million signing from AFC Bournemouth has played just once in the competition for Newcastle when he was sent on as substitute at Newport County to help save the day and force a penalty shoot-out on a night when Jonjo Shelvey scored a fantastic equaliser.

Wilson set the tone in the penalty shoot-out by scoring first and helping United win 5-4.

After scoring from the spot in the Premier League against Fulham, he hoped it would count for more.

He added: “It is frustrating when you pick up one point rather than three but you have to look at the positives sometimes.

“We did not lose the game which is important but we are striving to win those games definitely.”

■ THE Carabao Cup final has been pushed back to April 25 in a bid to welcome fans to Wembley, the EFL has announced.

The game was due to be played on February 28 and will kick off at 4.00 on its new date.