Newcastle hopeful of pulling off shock victory against Manchester United
Chris Hughton has urged his players to repeat their gutsy display at Old Trafford to pull off another shock result against Manchester United tonight.
Few gave Newcastle any hope of returning with something to show for their efforts when they opened their campaign at United back in August.
However, against all the odds, Obafemi Martins gave them an early lead and it took a Darren Fletcher equaliser to snatch a point for Sir Alex Ferguson's men.
The respective fortunes of the two clubs have diverged alarmingly during the ensuing months, and United will arrive at St James' Park with the Carling Cup already banked and comfortably clear at the top of the Barclays Premier League table.
By contrast, the Magpies will go into the game struggling to stay out of the relegation zone and with Arsenal and Chelsea also looming large on the horizon.
However, Hughton believes a much-changed team is still capable of turning in the kind of performance which paid dividends back in August.
He said: "We know a lot of people will look at Manchester United at the moment and think they are capable of going on an unbeaten run right through to the end of the season.
"But we have got a group of lads who have got to look forward to playing against the best team, and come out of it with first, pride of performance, and hopefully some points.
"You are looking at the team that is the best team in the country, and an away fixture at Manchester United isn't one we would have preferred when the fixtures came out.
"But we were able to go there and not only get a point from the game, but put on a very good performance which very much warranted it."
