Newcastle United players were shown clips of some of the most glorious moments in the club's history earlier this month by Eddie Howe and his staff, but the current crop do not have to look too far for gritty inspiration on how to get the job done at Prenton Park on Wednesday night. The last time Newcastle travelled to the Wirral, after all, the visitors defeated Tranmere Rovers to book their place in the semi-finals of the FA Cup back in 2000.
So many Premier League teams have come unstuck at Tranmere over the years, but not Sir Bobby Robson's side. Was it any wonder that a bare-chested Alan Shearer could not help but smile as the Newcastle captain embraced friend and team-mate Warren Barton at the final whistle following a 3-2 win? They were one step closer to reaching another final.
"There's a good picture actually of me and Alan," Barton told ChronicleLive. "We're smiling afterwards because we knew after that we had a chance."
