Newcastle United v Tottenham Hotspur
The FA Cup, Sixth Round
13 March 2005, 4.00pm
St. James' Park



Newcastle right-back Stephen Carr is desperate to silence the Tottenham critics in Sunday's FA Cup quarter-final clash with his former club at St. James' Park.

Carr, who left White Hart Lane last summer in a £2m deal after almost 12 years with Spurs, admits he was "hurt'' when he was barracked by the travelling fans in the Premiership encounter on Tyneside in August.

Spurs won 1-0 and Carr is still smarting from the experience. The Republic of Ireland international admitted: "It's a game I cannot lose and I have a huge desire to win it. I left Spurs to better myself and I want to beat them.

"I do not want to feel like I did when Spurs won here at the start of the season because that was not very nice.

"I had been there a long time and had never been in a situation where I was playing against my old team.

"I had been there for 11-and-a-half years and it hurt when I took stick from their fans that day.

"I gave them good service, but that was soon forgotten. That's football, though, and my aim now is to do well for Newcastle."

Spurs have gone through another managerial upheaval since then, with Martin Jol replacing Jacques Santini.

Carr added: "Martin Jol is getting the best out of his players and they are well organised.

"However, we're the team at home and we're on a good run so we're looking forward to it.

"We have beaten Chelsea and Liverpool here in recent weeks so there is no reason why we cannot overcome Spurs.

"I was happy when I saw the draw for the sixth round because it is a great game for me. Obviously, they had to beat Nottingham Forest to set up the tie here, but they did a very professional job and won comfortably in the end.

"We had a massive ten days when we had games against Chelsea and Bolton and the two games against Heerenveen in the UEFA Cup and now they are behind us we are into the next little run of games.

"We know that the longer we keep the cup runs going the more there is at stake for us."

Newcastle boss Graeme Souness welcomes back central defender Jean-Alain Boumsong after the Frenchman's ineligibility for Thursday's 3-1 UEFA Cup first-leg victory over nine-man Olympiakos in Athens.

Click here for The FA Cup Sixth Round Factfile