MICHAEL Smith knows exactly what to expect from big derby games but is looking forward to finally playing in one when Town take on Bristol City this weekend.

The tall striker has been a regular in the stands for boyhood club Newcastle’s ferocious clashes with rivals Sunderland and has also witnessed the red hot atmosphere of London derbies when former club Charlton took on Crystal Palace and Millwall.

However, Smith has yet to feature on the pitch in a major derby but is looking forward to his first taste at Ashton Gate tomorrow.

“I’ve been in the stands for Newcastle v Sunderland derbies and also for Charlton v Millwall and Charlton v Palace, so I know all about derbies,” he said.

“I’m dying to play in one now and I’m really looking forward to it. It’s a massive game for us and it should be a really good one to play in.

“We need to be consistent and look to start games the way we finished on Tuesday and if we can do that we should be fine.

Smith revealed he has been working on his hold-up play in training, which was much improved during Tuesday night’s loss to the leaders.

“I work on it with Luke (Williams, assistant manager) after most training sessions and before them in the warm-up too so that’s something I’m personally working really hard on,” he said.

“The lads are working as well to try and get in and around me and that showed on Tuesday too.

“This is all experience for me and experience for the lads so we have to take the positives from the second half and move on.”