It’s the FA Cup third-round draw later today and Newcastle United are ball number 28. The draw will be live on ITV1 around 2.40pm, after the conclusion of second-round tie between MK Dons and AFC Wimbledon. Here is a full list of teams involved in the draw, from the FA website: 1 Arsenal 2 Aston Villa 3 Barnsley 4 Birmingham City 5 Blackburn Rovers 6 Blackpool 7 Bolton Wanderers 8 Brighton & Hove Albion 9 Bristol City 10 Burnley 11 Cardiff City 12 Charlton Athletic 13 Chelsea 14 Crystal Palace 15 Derby County 16 Everton 17 Fulham 18 Huddersfield Town 19 Hull City 20 Ipswich Town 21 Leeds United 22 Leicester City 23 Liverpool 24 Manchester City 25 Manchester United 26 Middlesbrough 27 Millwall 28 Newcastle United 29 Norwich City 30 Nottingham Forest 31 Peterborough United 32 Queens Park Rangers 33 Reading 34 Sheffield Wednesday 35 Southampton 36 Stoke City 37 Sunderland 38 Swansea City 39 Tottenham Hotspur 40 Watford 41 West Bromwich Albion 42 West Ham United 43 Wigan Athletic 44 Wolverhampton Wanderers 45 Preston North End 46 Bury or Southend United 47 Sheffield United 48 AFC Bournemouth 49 Burton Albion 50 Bradford City or Brentford 51 Luton Town 52 Alfreton Town or Leyton Orient 53 Oldham Athletic 54 Tranmere Rovers 55 Rotherham United or Notts County 56 Cheltenham Town or Hereford United 57 Barrow or Macclesfield Town 58 Accrington Stanley or Oxford United 59 Lincoln City or Mansfield Town 60 Harrogate Town or Hastings United 61 Coventry City 62 Milton Keynes Dons or AFC Wimbledon 63 Crawley Town 64 Aldershot Town So, which number would you like us to get? and which numbers would you rather avoid. Last season the Toon beat Blackburn 2-1 at St James’ Park courtesy of a superb goal from Hatem Ben Arfa. The season before it was 3-1 defeat away at Stevenage with Cheick Tiote getting sent off. We will have the draw live on our Twitter account @nufcfans, followed by fan reaction.

Newcastle youngster Haris Vuckic says that it is hard for the team to achieve anything with the amount of injuries they have. Newcastle are 14th in the league, only two points above the relegation zone. Their poor start to the season is a bleak comparison to last season’s fantastic campaign. Nevertheless, injured midfielder Vuckic says that Newcastle have to be excused to a certain extent because of the injury predicament they find themselves in. The Slovenian is one of several players sidelined at present. Speaking about the situation at the club, Vuckic said: “It is a bit harder, last season we were 5th, now we are doing a bit worse. “We all know that it is hard to achieve anything if you have 14 injured players in the club. “We (players) still have fun and are joking with each other!” The youngster is looking forward to the festive period because he should be able to kick a ball again after the holidays. He hopes to be fit to play in four months’ time, earlier than expected. We’re not sure that Newcastle have as many as 14 players injured, but they certainly have a lot. Do you think Newcastle’s poor form can be slightly excused because of the number of players sidelined? Let us know your thoughts? Thank you to Nejc Flander of Slovenia Footy for translating Vuckic’s interview.

Liverpool’s Suso has landed himself in hot water after labelling ex-Newcastle defender Jose Enrique “gay” in a message on Twitter. The youngster posted the following message and image after Enrique had his teeth whitened: The tweet was quickly deleted, but is likely to lead Liverpool chiefs to react with some reports indicating that an FA investigation could be launched. Liverpool are the leading supporters of Kick Homophobia Out Of Football campaign and were the first Premier League club to sign up for Gay Pride. A poor choice of words from Suso and whether he meant it intentionally or not it has to be dealt with seriously. On a lighter note, what’s happened to Enrique since he left Newcastle – No hair? Teeth whitened? Early mid-life crisis perhaps?

Joey Barton hasn’t been at Marseille long, but it seems that the French accent is rubbing off on him already. Alan Pardew has revealed that Barton’s hilarious press conference is something which has provided those at his ex-club Newcastle with a good laugh. If you haven’t seen it already then take a look at Barton’s interview below, followed by Pardew‘s reaction underneath: Brilliant. There’s never a dull moment with Barton that’s for sure!

Newcastle youngster Haris Vuckic is optimistic of returning to action in April, despite being ruled out for the entire season after rupturing a cruciate ligament. Vuckic was devastated when he suffered a serious injury during an under-21′s clash against Aston Villa earlier this season. The young Slovenian was expected to be out for the entire season, however he’s revealed that progress is going better than expected. Speaking about the recovery process, Vuckic said: “I always think positive, I know that if I start thinking negative, my progress will stop. “I’m doing all the practices my physiotherapist wants me to do and everyone is happy with my progress. “I hope I’ll be back in four months.” Vuckic says that the support from the manager and the players has been valuable. And, although he faces the majority of the season on the sidelines, Alan Pardew has reassured him that he’s still important to the club: “When we see each other he (Pardew) always asks me how I am and how I feel. He told me before this season that he is counting on me and that he still is. “Actually, the whole club helps me and that gives me extra motivation. “I know I’ll come back stronger, physically and mentally.” We’re glad to see that Vuckic’s recovery is going well! Thank you to Nejc Flander of Slovenia Footy for translating Vuckic’s interview.

If Newcastle lose to Wigan on Monday night then they will be the first Toon team to suffer five consecutive league defeats. Newcastle have been having a torrid time as of late. Injuries and under-par performances have seen Alan Pardew’s side slip to 14th in the table. Wednesday’s defeat at the hand of Stoke was their fourth in a row; following loses against West Ham, Swansea and Southampton. If Wigan beat Newcastle at St. James’ Park on Monday night then it will mark an unwanted record-breaking five consecutive league defeats for the Magpies. Nevertheless, Alan Pardew is optimistic that his side can avoid that happening: “I’m so buoyed by the performance at Stoke, though. “The things we have changed and the things we’ve done have definitely helped. The team has responded to them. “Hopefully, we can take that forward.” Are you confident that Newcastle can avoid the unwanted five games beaten record? Let us know your thoughts?

James Perch will be missing from Monday night’s clash against Wigan as he serves a one game suspension. Perch has only just returned to action. He made his first start since recovering from his thigh injury on Wednesday night against Stoke. The versatile player picked up a booking in the game, his fifth of the season, which means he will miss Monday night’s clash as he serves a one game ban. Newcastle’s depleted squad has been well-documented. Aside from Perch’s suspension, they have eight players unavailable due to injury. Steven Taylor and Hatem Ben Arfa are both missing with hamstring injuries, Shola Ameobi and Yohan Cabaye are suffering from groin injuries, Gabriel Obertan has a problem with his toe, and Dan Gosling, Haris Vuckic and Ryan Taylor all have knee injuries. Will Perch be a miss against Wigan on Monday? How do you expect Newcastle to line-up? Let us know your thoughts?

Newcastle defender Danny Simpson has issued a plea to fans to pack out the stadium on Monday night and get behind the team as they take on Wigan. Newcastle fans have had to witness some poor performances as of late. Alan Pardew’s men haven’t won at St. James’ Park since they beat West Brom at the end of October, and even that wasn’t pleasant viewing. Simpson has highlighted how important the fans are going to be against Wigan and has asked them to get behind the team. Speaking to the club’s website, he said: “We know they want to see the team winning but more than ever we need them behind us on Monday night because we want to make it tough for Wigan. “Just pack it out, please, and get behind us. People saw the effort and the way we performed in midweek and I’m sure that’s what they want from us. “They want to see the players put 100 per cent in and if they can get behind us on Monday they’ll get 100 per cent out of every single one of us and hopefully come the final whistle we’ll all be going home with a little bit of a smile on our face – and three points.” We’re sure all the supporters will get behind the team on Monday. What do you think of Simpson’s message? Let us know your thoughts?

Vurnon Anita believes that there are plenty of positives Newcastle can take into the game against Wigan on Monday. Newcastle are on a poor run of form as of late. Their defeat against Stoke on Wednesday night was their fourth consecutive loss in the league. Anita admits that the Magpies are in a bad position at the moment. Speaking to the Journal, he said: “The league table is not a nice thing to look to. We have lost the last two home games in the Premier League so we have to stop that on Monday.” Newcastle’s summer signing thinks that despite the teams’ recent defeats, there are a lot of positives that they can take into the Wigan game from the Stoke performance: “The positive was that we were one-nil up, doing great, playing well, and I think we should try to forget the last ten minutes before the Wigan game. “We must learn from our mistakes of course, but it is also to learn from the positives too. There were plenty of those, we have to take the positivity to Monday. “We worked very hard, we chased them down very hard when we were out of possession. We must keep the faith even though we have lost this game in the end.” Do you agree with Anita? Did you see positives from the Stoke game to take into Monday’s encounter?

Alan Pardew admits that Newcastle are in danger of finding themselves in a relegation scrap this season. Newcastle have lost four consecutive games in the league and thus find themselves sitting only two points off the bottom three. Pardew says that even though it’s only November, his team are fighting at the wrong end of the table. In an honest assessment, the Newcastle manager said: “Our pre-season ambition to aim for the Champions League this season seems a long way off now and it’s not too early to talk about being dragged into it at the bottom. “We can’t bury our heads in the sand and we have to get some wins to get out of it.” Newcastle welcome Wigan on Monday night, a game which is being labelled a “must-win”. The Magpies have a tough run in December, facing both Manchester clubs and a trip to the Emirates. Are you worried about the prospect of Newcastle getting relegated? Or do you expect them to climb up the table sooner rather than later?