Friday, January 2, 2009

Hull City v Newcastle FA Cup match preview

The story line of the FA Cup match against Hull City is thick as Newcastle looks to respond to a dreadful loss to Liverpool. Last weeks 5-1 loss to Liverpool was a foul reminder of how far the club has to go as they were completely run off the pitch. While the scoreline was a foul abomination, it would have been worse if it had not been for Shay Given. Now with clubs injury situation getting so bad that manager Joe Kinnear was forced to cancel practice lest he risk another loss and the Republic of Ireland ‘keeper has expressed his displeasure and seemingly paving the way for an exit out. Yet if that isn’t enough the match could also see Craig Fagan come face to face with Danny Guthrie, whose reckless challenge broke the Hull City’s man leg approximately three months ago.

As always Joe Kinnear is pushing full steam ahead for the victory:

“We’ve got a lot of key players missing but I’ll be sending out my strongest possible side at Hull.

“This is a big game for us and it’s a competition which I love to be involved in.

“Maybe we should be keeping one eye on West Ham in the league next week but that’s not the message I will be giving my players.

“We’ll be going out very attacking minded and looking to get the win.”

Newcastle will have Sébastien Bassong available but are likely without Obafemi Martins and Habib Beye along with Mark Viduka, Cláudio Caçapa and longer-term absences Joey Barton and Alan Smith. Hull City is reporting a fully fit squad and anxious to climb into the next round of the FA Cup.