'Milan away is exciting especially because of Newcastle's song' - Hume

Trai Hume is excited to play AC Milan after Sunderland drew the Italian giants in the league phase of the Europa League and referenced Newcastle fans' chant of "you'll never see a Mackem in Milan" as a sweetener going into the tie. Newcastle played AC Milan twice in the 2023-24 Champions League, losing at home and gaining a draw in the San Siro. Hume told BBC Radio Newcastle: "I think we always want to play against a bigger team in the group and to have Milan away is exciting, you know, especially because of the song - and when Newcastle sung about us - and now we get to actually go there and perform and play in the San Siro. "We don't take anything away from our other opponents. We know it's going to be tough. They're in the Europa League like us for a reason and it'll be a tough test. We get to visit Belgium and Poland and there's going to be difficult places to go. I think AC Milan is the only one you talk about because it stands out as they are AC Milan. But a lot of them ones are exciting as well you know it's like I said it's just something we're really looking forward to." Listen to Hume above or Luke O'Nien below Get all your Sunderland audio on BBC Sounds, including Regis le Bris' Friday news conference Luke O'Nien has also shared his reaction to playing against AC Milan, saying it was the tie everyone in the squad wanted. "I was out on the training pitch and someone shouted out, to be honest with you, I didn't believe them," he explained. "We're going out there to be competitive, like in every single game we compete in. So obviously, the Sunderland fans are going to be loving it and I'm sure I've already had about 10 ticket requests before I even knew the fixture was out. It's going to be a special day but, again, we're going there to do what we do." Mr. Sunderland is adamant this isn't a one-off appearance in Europe for the Black Cats: "It shows how far we've come but again it's important now we've got to normalise this. This is our aim to normalise these moments. It's cool that we're talking about it because it is exciting but I think the aim for everybody is you've got to make these moments normal. That's what you want to, you know, fast forward 10 years that we want to normalise these moments." "I think that's the goal for everybody. That's what every person in the Premier League is aiming for and obviously to be competitive, go as far as you can in the competition."