Newcastle and Palace play for a place in Semi-Final.
Newcastle United v Crystal Palace
The FA Youth Cup sponsored by E.ON
Sixth Round Proper
7pm, Thursday 25 February
St James Park, Newcastle United FC
Click here for fixtures
Newcastle United's Academy can finally give their team bus driver a night off as they play their first FA Youth Cup game at home on Thursday evening against Crystal Palace.
Since entering the competition in the Third Round, the young Magpies have been drawn away every time this season.
However, travelling away from home is not necessarily a negative thing according to Newcastle Academy manager Joe Joyce. He said: "It seems a lot of teams have had some good results away from home in The Cup this season.
"That may be because of the pressure playing at home in front of friends and family. Some of our lads have already played at St James Park so hopefully playing at home won't faze them."
Joyce's counterpart on Thursday night, David Moss, is looking forward to watching his side play in the historic stadium but he believes that it may be more daunting for the home team.
"It's a great proposition to play at St James Park," said the Palace Academy Manager. "But the pressure of playing at home means that it could go either way. Either they rise to the occasion, or they let it rule their play."
Newcastle go into the game having dispatched of Doncaster Rovers, Reading and West Ham with considerable ease, scoring three goals in each round.
"We have a lot of players who can score goals," added Joyce. "We don't just rely on one individual, so it's good we have goals running through the team."
Palace have also shown that they know where the net is by scoring nine goals in the tournament so far. Their last round result was a convincing 4-1 win away to Hull City. Joe Goldsmith grabbed a brace in their victory and will be keen to put in another good display to ensure his side go through.
As well as beating Hull, the Eagles have also racked up wins against Derby County and Bristol City in the previous rounds of The Cup.
"We went to watch their 4-1 win (against Hull) and they are a strong force," said Joyce. "They have pace on the wings and they are capable of scoring goals."
With both sides in free-scoring form Newcastle Academy boss Joyce will be hoping his side can replicate Kevin Keegan's philosophy of "we'll score one more than you" against the visitors from south London.
The winners of the tie will face an away trip to either Fulham or Aston Villa next month.
