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."