Blackburn boss Jon Dahl Tomasson is relishing the prospect of his side hosting his old club Newcastle after Rovers came from behind to beat Wrexham 4-1 at Ewood Park in the FA Cup fourth round.
The League Two visitors were on for an upset when Andy Cannon put them in front in the 19th minute, bringing a huge roar from the 7,000-plus away fans in the ground.
But Blackburn responded in ruthless fashion with goals in quick succession just past the half-hour mark from Sammie Szmodics and then Sam Gallagher as goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo was punished for racing out of his area.
Szmodics, the Championship’s leading scorer this term with 16 goals who had bagged a hat-trick in the 5-2 third-round victory over Cambridge, then netted his second of the night just prior to the interval before Sondre Tronstad wrapped things up in the second half.
Former striker Tomasson – a Newcastle player in 1997-98 – said in his post-match press conference when asked about the fifth-round clash with the Magpies that had been set up: “It’s special.
“When I saw the draw, I was thinking about the Champions League game against Barcelona where we won it 3-2, I thought that could be nice if we were able to win against Wrexham, to see my former club here.
“We know how well Newcastle has performed. So I’m really pleased to see my old club coming here.”
On his team’s display against Wrexham, Tomasson said: “It was a good performance, and when you play the FA Cup it’s about winning.
“A game like this could be extremely dangerous, Wrexham are bringing on a Monday night more than 7,000 fans, they had a great run last season, beating Coventry, almost beating Sheffield United as well. The team have done a very good performance and we are pleased to be through to the next round.”
While Blackburn have struggled of late in the Championship and lie 18th, Wrexham are second in League Two as they look to make it back-to-back promotions in their high-profile resurgence under the ownership of actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
And boss Phil Parkinson – who watched from the stands at Ewood Park as he served a one-game touchline ban – said: WWe know what our focus is, we’ve got a really exciting second part of the season, we’re in a terrific position.
“It’s now to put this behind us. Of course, we’re disappointed because we’d love to give our supporters a tighter game, to make it more competitive, and at 1-0 up and 1-1, it had that feel, but it went away from us.
“I thank all the supporters that came tonight, it was outstanding support – and like me, they’ll be ready, dust themselves down and get ready for a really exciting run-in.”
Meanwhile, Tomasson was asked about 19-year-old Blackburn midfielder Adam Wharton, who has been linked with Crystal Palace and Chelsea, after he was an unused substitute for the Wrexham match.
The Dane said: “We all know Adam is a great player, and we also know there is a lot of rumours. When you have a good player, which Adam is, a great player and maybe even an England player one (day), there’s a chance he could go away. That’s football, that’s life.
“At one stage he will go away – is that tomorrow, is that in the summer, or next year? Let’s wait and see.”
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