The FA make official decision ahead of Birmingham City vs Newcastle United clash

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Birmingham City’s FA Cup journey continues on Saturday night.

Blues take on Premier League high-flyers Newcastle United in the fourth round of the FA Cup this weekend. The tie kicks off at 5.45pm on Saturday at St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park as the two big clubs commence battle for a spot in the fifth round.

The Football Association have confirmed their official refereeing appointments for this weekend and Birmingham will be greeted by a familiar face. Matt Donohue has been named as the referee for Saturday, with Paul Hodskinson and Nigel Lugg the assistants and James Bell as the fourth official.

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Donohue may not be remembered overly fondly by Bluenoses as has refereed 11 Birmingham matches in the past and only two of those have ended in victories. Six draws and three defeats were inflicted in the other nine matches led by the 35-year-old official.

On the Newcastle front, it’s a momentous occasion for Donohue as he has never refereed a match for the Magpies before. He has been in charge of a Premier League fixture as he made his top-flight officiating debut last May for Brentford’s 2-1 win away at AFC Bournemouth – but he’s never had the pleasure of overseeing the Toon, at least at senior level.

Donohue isn’t exactly the most patient of referees as this season he’s handed out a whopping 66 yellow cards and four reds - three of which were straight sending-offs - in just 18 matches. The Englishman has also awarded 407 fouls. That averages out at 3.66 yellows, 0.22 reds and 22.6 fouls per game.

Players from both Birmingham and Newcastle should be wary of Donohue’s tendency to reach for his pocket, especially as any suspensions picked up through red cards will carry over into League One and the Premier League respectively.

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Blues will be hoping Donohue puts on a good showing this weekend as they wouldn’t want a poor officiating performance to stand in their way of progressing to the fifth round for the seventh time since 2000. Birmingham have never won the FA Cup but they have reached two finals (1931, 1956) and four semis (1946, 1957, 1968, 1975).

How will Birmingham City approach their clash with Newcastle?

As Blues are very unlikely to progress to the latter stages of the tournament this time around, manager Chris Davies is instead focusing on League One and the EFL Trophy, two competitions Birmingham are the strong favourites to win.

What that doesn’t mean, however, is that Davies will throw this game in Newcastle’s favour by naming a weak lineup. There could be rotation, yes, but Blues are likelier to go full strength in what is seen as an exciting test against world-class opposition.

This is the first time Birmingham have faced Newcastle in any competition since March 2017, when a 0-0 draw played out at St Andrew’s in the Championship. Blues are without a win in their last eight meetings with the Magpies but their last victory was in the FA Cup – a stunning 5-1 thumping at St. James’ Park in January 2007.

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The two teams have played one another in the FA Cup since but it didn’t quite go as well for Blues on that occasion. Birmingham forced a replay in January 2017 with a 1-1 draw at St Andrew’s but Newcastle proved too fierce in the reverse tie, winning 3-1 at St. James’ 11 days later.

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