Shepherd looks for revenge against United

Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd is excited by the prospect of avenging a 1999 FA Cup final defeat by Manchester United.

“It’s not the draw we wanted, but it won’t have been the draw Manchester United wanted either,” he told www.nufc.co.uk.

“But there’s no reason why we cannot beat them. We won’t be frightened of them. We’ve done well to beat Chelsea and Tottenham in the last two rounds, so why can’t we beat Manchester United?

“We owe them one for the Charity Shield defeat at Wembley in 1996, and also for the FA Cup final defeat in 1999 – so we’ll look forward to this one.

“It will be a fantastic occasion for our supporters who go down to the Millennium Stadium. The final is back at Wembley next season, so I hope we can go there twice this year.”