Steve McClaren reacts to chants from angry Newcastle fans at Vicarage Road

Newcastle United have failed to progress past the third round of the FA Cup in each of their past three seasons, but manager Steve McClaren is determined to better their fortunes this campaign.

Newcastle resume Premier League action on Tuesday when they host Manchester United.

“We’ve performed today on a hard pitch, in hard circumstances, and I think we’ve dominated and controlled the game”.

The Hornets boss is a big fan of the FA Cup but it’s no secret that next Wednesday’s league game at Southampton is more important. But the Spaniard has hinted that changes are likely in order to rotate his squad.

The only goal of the game came a minute before the break when a sloppy mislaid backpass was pounced upon by Troy Deeney who then proceeded to round Rob Elliot and slot home to give Watford the lead.

Jose Holebas may also be drafted in but Nathan Ake remains suspended while Tommie Hoban (groin) and Joel Ekstrand (knee) are out.

Steve McClaren called on Newcastle supporters to “stick together” and described their criticism of his team as “very harsh” after they were dumped out of the FA Cup.

The Magpies star picked up the problem in last weekend’s defeat at Arsenal and is struggling to make the clash at Vicarage Road this weekend.

Newcastle could however be boosted by the returns of midfielder Rolando Aarons and striker Emmanuel Riviere after lengthy injury lay-offs.

Both sides will be keen to use the game to build some momentum to take into their Premier League fixtures next week.