London: Newcastle's wretched record in the FA Cup continued as 40-year-old Aaron Wilbraham gave minnows Rochdale a 1-1 draw in Saturday's third round clash. Magpies boss Steve Bruce had declared his determination not to lose to "bloody Rochdale" as he eyed a sustained Cup run for a club that hasn't won the competition since 1955 and last reached the final in 1999. But Newcastle's FA Cup form is so bad that they have not gone beyond the fourth round for 13 years. A succession of Newcastle managers have refused to take the competition seriously, sending out weak teams as they prioritised Premier League survival.

And once again they endured embarrassment as Rochdale, who took Tottenham to a fifth round replay in 2018, recovered from Miguel Almiron's opener to earn a replay at St James' Park later in January thanks to a late leveller from old stager Wilbraham. Despite dealing with a raft of injuries, Bruce, a three-time FA Cup winner with Manchester United, picked six players who started Wednesday's Premier League loss to Leicester.