Eddie Howe now says Newcastle United's biggest challenge is ignoring the upcoming Carabao Cup final

Newcastle United have a date with destiny on 16th March as they return to Wembley to face Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final.

Between now and then, however, there are some tough Premier League games and tomorrow's FA Cup tie against Birmingham.

Two years ago when Newcastle were heading to the Carabao Cup final, it seemed like the Wembley trip had become a distraction and Newcastle's league form suffered as a result.

This is the first thing that Eddie Howe needs to address from the "Lessons We Learned From Wembley" book.

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Eddie Howe says Newcastle need to park any thoughts of the Carabao Cup Final

Speaking to the media on Friday morning (via The Chronicle) ahead of the trip to Birmingham for the FA Cup fourth-round tie, Eddie Howe acknowledged that he needs to keep his players grounded for the next five weeks.

"We have to [park it]. The biggest challenge is to eradicate it from our brain for a matter of time. When you're playing the likes of City, Liverpool in the league and Forest, we can't take our eyes off them. We need to focus on every step before the final.

"It's a great game lined up. Liverpool did what they usually do at Anfield - it was a really good performance from them. Whoever we were going to face was going to be a big task. We really look forward to it but we have to put it bed. That's our challenge."

Newcastle's Premier League fixtures heading into the final could barely be tougher

Newcastle have four very tough Premier League games between now and the final and we can't afford to let our standards slip.

There was a feeling that the lads were saving themselves for the Arsenal game when they dropped points at home to Fulham at the weekend, and we can't let that kind of thinking creep into our games against Man City, Liverpool, Forest and West Ham.

The Premier League clash with Liverpool is going to have an extra bit of spice now, though. We're looking forward to that.