Smith: Time for Toon to stand up
-
Newcastle's Alan Smith is desperate to avoid a repeat of the relegation heartbreak he experienced with Leeds United five years ago.
Smith was devastated when he suffered the Premier League drop with his hometown club in 2004, and he does not want to go through more of the same.
Newcastle sit one point above the relegation zone, having played a game more than Blackburn, and arguably face the toughest final 10 fixtures of all the clubs in the bottom half of the table ahead of a crucial clash with Hull City on March 14.
The Magpies have this weekend off following their FA Cup elimination to City, but Smith - whose season has been crippled by injury - is already looking forward to a trip to the KC Stadium as he plots survival.
"You never want a relegation on your CV," Smith, who made his first start for nine months in the defeat by former club Manchester United on Wednesday, said in The Sun.
"And for me, you don't want to have two on there. It's not nice, it's horrible.
"There are 10 games left and, hopefully, we can use the display against United as a springboard to go to Hull a week on Saturday and get a good result.
"We showed we have great endeavour and belief and now we need to continue that.
"We all have to stand up and be counted now in the last 10 games. Everybody knows that."