Newcastle United handed extremely tricky away tie as FA Cup round 4 draw is made
Newcastle United gave everything on Saturday to book their place in the FA Cup fourth round draw. Newcastle battled for 120 minutes plus penalties to see off fellow Premier League side Bournemouth to progress in the competition.
The FA Cup hasn't been kind to Newcastle for a long time, so getting into the fourth round is almost an achievement in itself.
Ahead of the final third-round tie tonight between Liverpool and Barnsley, Joeleon Lescott and Steve McManaman were on duty picking out the balls of destiny to pair teams up for the fourth round.
There were some lower league teams still in the competition that would have been nice for Newcastle to pick up to ease the burden slightly, but it wasn't meant to be.
Newcastle United will head to Aston Villa in the FA Cup fourth round
Newcastle were drawn against another Premier League side, pulling Aston Villa.
To add insult to injury, the Magpies were drawn as the away side, so it's a date at Villa Park to try and get through to the next round.
Had it been a home tie against Villa, we'd feel much better about it, but down at Villa Park, they probably have the edge.
If we're heading to Wembley we'll be fine with getting knocked out of the FA Cup
It depends on how we do against Manchester City tomorrow night and how our Carabao Cup fate is looking to determine how we truly feel about this draw.
If Newcastle are still in with a shout of winning the Carabao Cup, then we wouldn't be so opposed to going out of the FA Cup. Obviously, we'd still love to progress, but if we've managed to beat Manchester City and are heading to Wembley, it certainly won't sting as much.
The fourth round ties are set to be played over the weekend of 14th February, by which time Newcastle will have completed both legs of the Carabao Cup semi-final.
