Newcastle United's star predicts an "unbelievable" deadline day.

Newcastle United midfielder Sean Longstaff is looking forward to an ‘unbelievable’ Carabao Cup second leg against Southampton on Tuesday night at St James’ Park (8 pm kick-off).

Newcastle takes a slender 1-0 lead into the tie after beating Southampton at St Mary’s thanks to a second-half strike from Joelinton. The Magpies have not lost a match at St James’s Park since last April and will need that record to continue in order to guarantee a place in t

he final at Wembley Stadium next month.

United midfielder Sean Longstaff was only one when the club reached its last major cup final in 1999. And is now hoping to help the side make history under Eddie Howe when they host Southampton on the deadline day of the January transfer window.

“It’s something that if you’d told us just over a year ago that we’d be third in the league and in a cup semi-final, I probably would have laughed but it has been a great year,” said the 25-year-old. “Taking something back up to St James’s Park, I think it will be an unbelievable second leg and the atmosphere, I was trying to explain to the lads what it will be like.

“Even I probably don’t understand what it’s going to be like so we’re just really excited and it’s an occasion that the players, fans and everyone can really look forward to.”

It will be a sell-out crowd at St James’s Park on Tuesday, as it has been for each of the previous home fixtures in this season’s competition. Although Longstaff insists the players aren’t getting too far ahead of themselves, they are ‘quietly confident’ they can finish the job on Tuesday in front of the home fans.

“As a team, we’re a mellow group and don’t get too far ahead of ourselves,” he added. “It’s a massive occasion for everyone, we’ve had boys who have played in big games and boys who haven’t so it’s something we can all look forward to and we’re quietly confident in ourselves to get through.”

Longstaff is one of several boyhood Newcastle fans in the squad, along with Dan Burn, Paul Dummett, Elliot Anderson, Jacob Murphy, and Mark Gillespie. And when asked if he feels any extra responsibility to stress to his team-mates what winning a cup would mean to the fans and the city, Longstaff told The Gazette: “Yeah, a little bit but I tend to leave that sort of stuff to Burnie to be fair!

“He probably knows a bit more than me but for me, even being from Newcastle, it’s something that you know, I can’t remember the last time we were in a semi-final, to be honest so you know it’s going to be really special.

“To be honest, I’ve had a lot of people ask for tickets and other things, and it’s really nice. With the cup on the line, we’re looking forward to a tough game.

“But with a night game at St James’s Park and the atmosphere, I could be something truly special, something we haven’t seen in a long time.”