Huge Manchester City player not included in international squad due to injury - possibly good news for Newcastle

Newcastle United have the unenviable task of trying to get past Manchester City in the FA Cup quarter-final on Saturday.

The Magpies' form going into this game would be cause enough for concern, but our record at the Etihad Stadium is absolutely shocking, so you can forgive us if confidence is not high on this one.

Add to this the fact that our best player, Anthony Gordon, picked up a knock on Monday and is very much touch-and-go as to whether he will feature, and the hurdle gets cranked up another notch. It's getting to the point where even Dan Burn's noodle legs would struggle to clear it.

But hey, this is football and stranger things have happened. I mean, we have already dumped them out of the Carabao Cup this season.

Manchester City could be without one of their star men on Saturday

It was revealed this morning that Kevin De Bruyne has not been called up to the Belgium squad with a suspected injury, however, Sky Sports have not, at the time of writing, been able to clarify what the issue is.

While Manchester City potentially being without the Belgian maestro is a big boost to Newcastle, there's no escaping the fact that they still have plenty of other players more than capable of tearing us a new one.

Phil Foden is in fine form again, and he is partial to a goal against us, so he's definitely someone to be wary of, and of course there's the Nordic meat shield, Erling Haaland as well.

Should Howe just wave the white flag on this one?

There has been talk among fans about Eddie Howe playing a bunch of youngsters to give them big-game experience, essentially conceding the fixture so that we can focus solely on improving our league position.

It'll never happen, we know this, but it's not something we'd really want to see anyway is it? While there's still a chance of silverware, we should be doing everything we can to attain it. Granted, even if we beat City on Saturday, we know we'll be drawn against Liverpool next anyway, that's just how it has gone for us this season.

As we said earlier, stranger things have happened. All it takes is for them to have an off day, which does happen, and we can do this. WE CAN RUDDY WELL DO THIS, I SAY!