Newcastle manager Rafa Benitez will take things one game at a time as he prepares his squad to face Preston twice in a week - with securing a place in the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup first on the agenda.
A quirk of the fixture schedule has seen the Sky Bet Championship leaders drawn at home to North End in their fourth-round tie on Tuesday night before then travelling to Deepdale for a league match on Saturday.
It is a similar situation which the Magpies faced in the last round during September, when they lost at home to Wolves in the Championship only to then win 2-0 away in the cup tie a few days later.