Attiilo Lombardo’s men are on a run of six games without a win which stretches back to 22 February’s 4-1 win over Stoke City but they have picked up a couple of draws away at Crystal Palace and Bolton in their last two matches.
It remains to be seen whether Maicon and/or Micah Richards will continue their recoveries in this encounter or whether they will be considered ready for first-team duty at Wembley on Sunday.
City last met Newcastle at this level back at the start of March when Marcos Lopes rescued a point with a late penalty in a 1-1 draw.
The hunt for qualification places to the competition’s latter stages looks over for another year, with Reading steaming away at the top of National Group 2 but a win could propel the Blues ahead of the Magpies into third in the table.
Kick off is at 2pm at Hyde FC’s Ewen Fields (SK14 2SB), entry is free, and we’ll bring you goal updates on Twitter as well as a full match report shortly after full time.
