Eddie Howe makes Sunderland joke claim after Newcastle United FA Cup third round draw

Eddie Howe has revealed his surprise at Newcastle United's FA Cup third round draw - and admitted to thinking someone was winding him up!

The Magpies travel to bitter rivals Sunderland on the first weekend of January for the first Tyne-Wear derby in eight years.

Both sides have been relegated to the Championship since last facing each other. But while Newcastle bounced back to the Premier League at the first attempt, the Black Cats dropped into League One.

The Wearsiders spent four seasons in England's third-tier but achieved promotion in the same season in which United were taken over by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.

But the rivalry is renewed next month with Howe's side aiming to become the first Newcastle team since August 2011 to win a derby.

“I thought someone was winding me up," said Howe. "I didn’t hear or see the draw so I was relying on other people to tell me. I thought it was a joke. It’s a brilliant draw, it’ll be a great game, and one we’re looking forward to.

"It is a long way down the line for us as we have a lot of games before then so we’ll put it to the back of our minds. But certainly, it’s something to look forward to."

“You want to play in big games and games that mean something," Howe added. "This game means so much to everyone. I was enthused by the draw, I think it’s a great thing for us.

"The game comes at the end of a lot of fixtures and our record in the FA Cup in the last two years hasn’t been good.

"It’ll be an explosive atmosphere and one that we’ve been used to this season. We’ve played in a lot of highly charged stadiums with a lot riidng on the game, and that’ll be another. It’s something we have to enjoy."

The Magpies had previously lost six matches in a row against their bitter rivals before playing out a 1-1 draw at St James' Park in their last meeting in March 2016.

Howe said: “I wasn’t fully aware of the recent record in those games until the cup draw how we fared in recent years and it hasn’t been good. Our recent results have been disappointing so I think that’s another incentive for us to try and win the game.”