Matt Ritchie wants to play at Wembley with Newcastle United and he says the Magpies MUST grasp their chance of making it into the last eight of the EFL Cup.
But will Rafa switch the team?
The Magpies have had a woeful knockout record in recent years with the run to the quarter-finals of the League Cup in 2014 the only dose of cup fever for Geordie fans.
Even then, United were hammered 4-0 against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane in one of Alan Pardew’s last games in charge.
With Preston North End standing in the way of Newcastle in the fourth round this Tuesday, Ritchie said: “All our games are big.
“Obviously the league is a priority, but we want to go as far as we can in the cup competitions as well, and we’ve got the squad to do that.
“I’m really looking forward to that.
“We’d go into the last eight if we win against Preston, so it’s a great opportunity for us.”
Ritchie scored in the 3-0 win against Ipswich Town to keep Newcastle top of the table at the weekend.
He reflected: “I’ve been beating myself up a little bit.
“I’ve had a couple of chances of late - I had one against Norwich late on and I had one in the first half as well that I probably should have done a bit better with.
“I was delighted to get the goal in the end, but most importantly the three points and put them out of sight.”