Alan Smith tells of his injury and career at Newcastle

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“We went to Leyton Orient and it was a disaster. But I think what came out of it was that everything came to a head. “It was clear that five or six of the players wanted to leave which was fair enough, we knew that before the Leyton Orient game. We had a meeting when we came back from the game – just us players. We said whoever wants to leave, they can leave and we’ll help them to go. Whoever wants to stay then commit yourself to stay. That’s where we are now. That was a massive turning point.” What was left was a small squad short on numbers but big on determination and a desire to put last season’s many wrongs right by getting Newcastle back into the Premier League at the first opportunity. Smith has been at the vanguard of that. Partly out of responsibility, partly because he wanted to play regular first-team football again. He said: “There was never a chance that I would be one of the ones asking to go. I needed to play regular football. That’s what I’ve missed for the last three seasons. You just want to play. I was 29 on Wednesday so I can’t afford to miss any more games. I never feel any twinge of regret when I see the likes of Damien (Duff) playing in the Premiership. I wanted to stay. “I have enjoyed this season as much as any in my career. It’s been a breath of fresh air, I love the challenge in this division. At the end of the season we want to lift that Championship trophy, that would be a massive achievement. If we do that I will be a happy man. “I’ve missed so many games I can catch them all up this season if we have a decent cup run as well. When you’ve been through something, when you realise you might never play ever again, every game is a bonus. Playing at Anfield on that day could have been my last. So I enjoy every day.”

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