NEWCASTLE United can win this season’s FA Cup, according to Alan Pardew.

The Magpies kick off their campaign at home to Blackburn Rovers in today’s third round.

Manager Pardew has told his players to focus on the job in hand because they have a chance of lifting the trophy for the first time since 1955.

Pardew has never won the world’s most famous cup competition, but has twice been a surprise finalist – as a Crystal Palace player and West Ham United manager.

He said: “I take it seriously because it has been a great for me.

“As a lesser team we (Palace in 1990) were seven minutes from winning it and West Ham did brilliantly to get to the (2006) final and we almost won it.

“This team is better than those two teams so we can win it.

“Too many players in the Premier League do not focus on this fixture, they class the Premier League or Champions League above it and therefore you have the odd freak result. I am on my guard against that.

“In terms of the teams in the country right now, we have a chance of winning it.”

Newcastle’s comfortable seventh place in the table gives them the freedom to attack the competition. With 33 points, they are already close to safety, while realistically the title and even Champions League qualification are out of reach.

Europa League qualification remains their chief target and, while finishing seventh could be enough, winning the Cup would guarantee it.

It would also be a far greater cause for celebration at a club without a major trophy since the 1969 Fairs Cup.