Season 2008-2009

HULL CITY

 v

NEWCASTLE UNITED

We'll be going out very attacking minded and looking to get the win. I want us to get a bit of the beast back in our performances, certainly in defence.

We've got to be strong again and show a bit of the courage and spirit that we did in the games before Christmas.

We're missing players and it's killed us, but we've got to improve. Yes, injuries left us in tatters, but I expect a better level of performance than the one that we put on against Liverpool.

We know at Hull it's going to be a battle again. I dearly want to stay in the Cup and all the players do too - it's a real chance for us if we can get through January still in the competition and start getting some of these players back.

In terms of injuries we have gone backwards since I arrived here. We didn't have any full-backs to begin with, and now we are back to that, with Habib out for two months and Enrique struggling.

I won't know what my team is likely to be until Friday.  It's tough, but it's my job to keep them all up for it. I won't slate the players individually, but some of the decisions we made (against Liverpool) were poor decisions and we went through that after the game.

Colly (Coloccini) wasn't happy aerially, so I switched (Steven) Taylor there, but it was just a matter of having to put a whole new back four out there.

We'll be looking for an improvement, whichever team goes out against Hull."

Match Preview:

Unbeaten in six games leading up to Christmas, Newcastle United's season again fell into crisis in the space of two defeats in two days.

Mounting injuries picked up in those games sees manager Joe Kinnear now with a major injury crisis on his hands, with several key players out injured leaving his already paper thin squad looking extremely venerable.

Nigerian striker Obafemi Martins (abdominal/groin) is expected to be missing for a further fortnight while Habib Beye (ankle ligament) will be out for at least another eight weeks.  Mark Viduka (groin) and Claudio Cacapa (knee) are set for two to three-week lay-offs, and Joey Barton (knee) and Alan Smith (ankle) will not figure until the end of the month.  (No news on loanee Ignacio Gonzalez, so your guess is as good as mine on the state of his fitness)

In addition, Kinnear will need to give late fitness tests to struggling trio, Jose Enrique, Nicky Butt and Shola Ameobi in an attempt to play his strongest starting XI.

However, one piece of positive news for Kinnear is the return of suspended French defender Sebastien Bassong, meaning Bassong should be able to return to the heart of the defence alongside Fabricio Coloccini, with Steven Taylor moving out to right-back to cover Beye.

Following a string of three defeats Hull City manager Phil Brown could ring the changes to his starting XI, with Nathan Doyle, Stelios Giannakopoulos and Nicky Featherstone in contention.

And in twist of irony, Hull forward Craig Fagan is set to make his first start in almost four months after a broken leg sustained against Newcastle back in September.

The F.A. Cup gives us a welcome break from our Premier League survival battle.

However, a draw away to a fellow Premiership side was not what the doctor ordered, but 8th place Hull City are in a run of poor themselves, having gained only one win in the last 11 games, losing the last three on the bounce.

Despite our injuries, and awful last showing against Liverpool, we go into this tie with some hope of getting a result and at least bringing the Tigers back to St James' Park.

Hull City are by no means unbeatable (a certain small club down the road beat them 1-4 a couple of weeks ago!) therefore, if the whole team works hard and battles for 90 minutes I can see us being in that 4th Round draw.