The FA Cup match officials have been confirmed for Newcastle United’s fourth-round encounter against Birmingham City at St Andrew’s on Saturday (5:45pm kick-off).

The match will be refereed by Matthew Donohue, who will be aided by Paul Hodskinson and Nigel Lugg, with James Bell serving as the fourth official.

Donohue has only overseen Championship games this season, including the match between Premier League side Newcastle and League One team Birmingham on Saturday.

Newcastle is sixth in the Premier League, while Birmingham leads League One.

No VAR in place.

The Football Association has implemented a regulation amendment that prevents VAR from being used at the St Andrew’s game. Previously, VAR was employed in the competition ‘whenever possible’.

This season’s FA Cup will only employ VAR from the fifth round to ensure uniform refereeing for all clubs competing at the same level.

Newcastle’s previous encounter without VAR was a 3-1 FA Cup third-round victory over Bromley at St James’ Park last month.

Eddie Howe, the Magpies’ head coach, likes the reintroduction of raw emotion to matches due to the absence of VAR.

“I enjoyed not having VAR in that moment because we scored goals and once you see the linesman’s flag stay down you know it’s a goal,” Howe said with The Gazette. “You’re not second-guessing because when we score, the first thing I think is, ‘Is there a reason for that goal not to stand?'”

“That takes away the enjoyment of the moment; that is the world I live in. So when you don’t have it and then score, it’s a different sensation. But if you don’t have it and yield, I could be thinking the opposite. I first felt that I liked the raw excitement that comes with scoring without VAR.”

Newcastle felt they had opened the scoring in the first few minutes of Wednesday night’s 2-0 Carabao Cup semi-final victory against Arsenal, but a long VAR assessment ruled out Alexander Isak’s shot.

Birmingham vs Newcastle United head-to-head

Newcastle and Birmingham will meet for the first time in the FA Cup since the 2016-17 Championship season on Saturday. The previous encounter between Newcastle and Birmingham at St Andrews ended in a goalless draw eight years ago.

Newcastle is undefeated in their past eight meetings with Birmingham, their last defeat coming in a stunning 5-1 FA Cup loss at St James’ Park in 2007.

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