Dan Burn fulfilled a childhood dream as he took Newcastle to the Carabao Cup semi-finals.
The Blyth-born defender was released at the age of 11 by the club he supports, but returned as a £13m signing in January last year.
On Tuesday evening, he scored his first goal for the Magpies, beating Leicester 2-0 at St James’ Park in the quarterfinals to secure their first place in the last four in 47 years. Here’s their chance to finish the wait for a big trophy dating back to 1969.
When asked about his contribution to a celebrity night in Tyneside, the 30-year-old told NUFC TV: “This is great. Growing up sitting in that East Stand, that’s what you dream of doing, scoring in front of Gallowgate.
“My family also lives in that corner. In the end, I was out of space, I had to slide my knee.
“It was amazing. I’m glad I didn’t cry on TV. I missed a babysitter just before that, so I’m so happy I broke that duck.
“Young people get annoyed with me because I didn’t score in practice, so I’m happy that I did it and no one can take it away from me.”
A commanding mid-half and 6ft 6ins as a trader, Burn plays left-back for Eddie Howe’s in-form Newcastle team, but his first goal was scored not with his head, but with a cultured rustle to his right. foot.
Howe admitted: “If you’re a bookie, there’s no way you can put money on Dan Burn’s right foot to open the score in any game.
“He missed a disappointing header, probably not to score, but the goal was actually pretty good.”
Burn was celebrated with a locker room dance that went viral on social media after the final whistle, but not before their slogan “From O Blyth, you’ll never, ever beat Dan Burn” to the tune of Force and Styles’ Pretty Green Eyes. He had played around St James.
The former Darlington, Fulham and Brighton defender said: “Every player loves to hear their name being said and said. I didn’t think it would catch on, but to be fair it’s pretty catchy.
Burn’s 60th minute hit followed by a second from Joelinton 12 minutes later and Newcastle have advanced to their first semi-final in any competition since 2005, but the club are currently third in the Premier League, with immediate focus here. . He will lie.
“We don’t need to be distracted by that either, we have a lot of major league games ahead of us and we’re still struggling to stay there,” Burn said.
Leicester will face the Nottingham Forest derby on Saturday after coach Brendan Rodgers admits they need to improve if they want to improve.
Rodgers said, “Listen, we lost to the better team, so we have no complaints. There was a lot of effort, a lot of spirit there.
“We will move on to the next game and we will have to fight, if we want to get something from that game we will have to play better.”