Tonight’s UEFA Champions League fixture with PSV Eindhoven is a special one for me, as it is a repeat of my first Newcastle game as a fan here at St. James’ Park as a nine-year-old.

I think every football fan remembers the first time that they walk through the concourse, up a set of stairs, then their eyes first catch the pitch. Everyone will be able to recall their first moment when that happened and for me and my brother Josh it was that game in 2004.

We won 2-1, Alan Shearer and Gary Speed scored. I remember taking it in, the excitement of being in such a big stadium, watching our first Newcastle game. It was a really good occasion that I still remember now.

Shearer was of course my favourite player back then. A little bit later as we were growing up it was Olivier Bernard, Laurent Robert, and Nobby Solano.

At the time, I don’t think you quite envision being a professional footballer and playing in those games yourself when you’re so young. At that stage being a footballer is just a dream – something that would be cool to do one day. It’s not until you’re older that you start to sense that it could be a reality.

So it’s very special to now be playing at St. James’ Park in the UEFA Champions League. It’s an accumulation of hard work, not only from myself but from my teammates and all the staff. These are moments that we have to enjoy together and we have to enjoy it while we’re trying to fight for something bigger than us all.

We’ve put ourselves in a great position going into these last two games. This was something we identified at the beginning of the season, to progress to the knockout stage. We’re getting close to that but the job isn’t finished.

We really need to be on top form tonight against PSV, who are flying in their league. We can’t underestimate the magnitude of that challenge ahead of us.

We always know that on Champions League nights, the excitement levels will be high here. We have to match the synergy and connection from the pitch to the stands. When it’s like that, we can almost foresee the result ahead.

Every team is strong at home, and our fans and players have made this place a fortress. We had defeat in our last home game, but it’s time to put another run together at St. James’ Park. The opposition know what they will face here, so let’s not disappoint them with what they’re going to expect.

Jacob Murphy.