The excitement of the FA Cup third round draw yesterday was dampned slightly when City were drawn away at Newcastle Utd.
Not because of who we were drawn against. It's quite an attractive tie if both teams take it seriously but it's just too far away. I still like a little bit of romance and would have liked to have played a team much lower down and a bit nearer to South Wales, although that didn't come off so well last season as we were knocked out in round 3 by non league Macclesfield.
This fixture adds to an already daunting January. City's fixtures are now:
Arsenal (League) A
Newcastle (FA Cup) A
West Ham (League) H
Man City (League) A
Man Utd (League) A
And the possibility of a cup replay if there is a draw at Newcastle and a 4th round game if City were to overcome the Toon.
Full FA Cup 3rd round draw:
Barnsley v Hartlepool or Coventry
Yeovil v Leyton Orient
Liverpool v Oldham or Mansfield
Nottingham Forest v West Ham
Bristol City v Watford
Southend v Millwall
Middlesbrough v Hull
West Brom v Crystal Palace
Kidderminster v Peterborough
Doncaster v Stevenage
Stoke v Leicester
Southampton v Burnley
Newcastle v Cardiff
Rochdale v Leeds
Wigan v MK Dons
Charlton v Wrexham or Oxford United
Manchester United v Swansea
Port Vale v Plymouth
Norwich City v Fulham
Aston Villa v Sheffield United
Macclesfield v Sheffield Wednesday
Sunderland v Carlisle
Bolton v Blackpool
Blackburn v Manchester City
Everton v QPR
Brighton v Reading
Arsenal v Tottenham
Birmingham v Bristol Rovers or Crawley
Grimsby v Huddersfield
Ipswich v Preston
Derby v Chelsea
Bournemouth v Fleetwood or Burton
Ties to be played over the weekend of 4-5 January