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NEWCASTLE v MIDDLESBROUGH - SOUTHGATE'S TWIN FOCUS
Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate is refusing to prioritise as he contemplates success on two fronts.
The Teessiders make the short trip to Newcastle on Saturday having secured an FA Cup quarter-final berth in a dramatic penalty shoot-out at West Brom on Tuesday.
Boro will host Barclays Premiership leaders Manchester United in the last eight as they look to better last season's feat of reaching the semi-finals.
However, Southgate insists his side's league ambitions remain just as important as they attempt to ease themselves towards the top six.
He said: "It is not something that is a concern because we focus on each game as it comes up.
"We do not value the league as any more important than the FA Cup or vice-versa.
"The league is a bit of a process. You have got to grind results out week after week, and we have got to get back to doing that.
"You are always judged as a team on where you finish in the league and I have always maintained that.
"But the FA Cup is no less important to us because it is a chance to win something.
"It is difficult to quantify one being more important than the other. Of course, if you get to the semi-final of a cup competition, then you really start to believe a bit more."
Boro's energy-sapping visit to The Hawthorns came just three days after they had ended Reading's unbeaten run in 2007 to close the gap on their derby rivals.
The three points the Teessiders collected as reward for their 2-1 victory over Steve Coppell's side edged them into 12th place, just a point adrift of Newcastle, who slipped to 11th after their 1-0 defeat at Wigan 24 hours later.
Boro claimed the local bragging rights back in October when Ayegbeni Yakubu's late strike gave them a 1-0 win over the Magpies.
Their chances of completing a double will depend on how they recover from their efforts in the West Midlands, although first-choice goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer is facing a race against time to be fit.
Fellow Australian Brad Jones started against the Baggies after Schwarzer was ruled out with a back injury, although Southgate will have no qualms about using the younger man again at St James' Park.
He said: "Brad has played against Arsenal, kept a clean sheet at Portsmouth and played very well.
"He has been in for big matches in the past and we have every confidence in him."
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