With the last two teams to defeat Manchester United coming together at St. James’s Park in the FA Cup third round, this could be a more entertaining game than many are predicting. With Demba Ba and Cheick Tiote not being able to play for Newcastle Until the 26th of February, those two spots are now up for grabs. You would hope that the fringe players such as Leon Best, Peter Lovenkrands, Gosling, and Mehdi Abeid would be going all out if given the chance – not to mention Harris Vuckic and Hatem Ben Arfa.

Newcastle fans clamouring for Ben Arfa will be hoping the Frenchman will get a look in, because even though the team has been performing well, Ben Arfa has played a bit part role, something he’s not said to be too happy with. But do we really want to use Ben Arfa in the FA Cup when we’ve got important Premier League games coming up? It wouldn’t be a total loss if we lost against Blackburn tomorrow, but it’s definitely a winnable game.

Additionally, it gives Newcastle United fans a chance to see rumoured signing Christopher Samba – the powerful centre-half who’s been linked with a move to St. James’s Park.

We get to open up our FA Cup campaign against Hull City at the KC Stadium.

The Mackems get to have a repeat of yesterdays hammering against Bolton, Boro will play non-league Barrow at the Riverside, Hartlepool will take on Stoke at home and if Blyth Spartans can see off Bournemouth, they earn a home game against Blackburn. Third round games will be played on the weekend of January 3rd and 4th.

Full draw for the FA Cup Third Round is as follows:

Portsmouth v Bristol City
Sheffield Wed v Fulham
Preston v Liverpool
Birmingham v Wolves
West Ham v Barnsley
Middlesbrough v Barrow
Hull City v Newcastle
Hartlepool v Stoke
Chelsea v Southend
Manchester City v Nottingham Forest
Cardiff v Reading
Ipswich v Chesterfield or Droylesden
Charlton v Norwich
West Brom v Peterborough or Tranmere
Torquay v Blackpool
Leyton Orient v Sheffield United
Southampton v Manchester United
Millwall v Carlisle or Crewe
Histon v Swansea
Forest Green Rovers v Derby
QPR v Burnley
Leicester v Crystal Palace
Tottenham v Wigan
Morecambe or Cheltenham v Doncaster
Arsenal v Plymouth
Notts County or Kettering v Eastwood Town
Bournemouth or Blyth v Blackburn
Macclesfield v Everton
Watford v Scunthorpe
Sunderland v Bolton
Coventry v Kidderminster
Gillingham or Stockport v Aston Villa.