'It's not about me now': Steve Bruce has a message at Newcastle United as he looks to make FA Cup history

Bruce’s team are just 90 minutes from a first FA Cup semi-final in 15 years.

The club has had a dismal record in the domestic cups under Mike Ashley’s ownership, but with the team all but safe in the Premier League with seven games left to play, Bruce can attack Sunday’s quarter-final against Manchester City.

However, a Wembley appearance was seemingly a remote prospect 11 months ago when Bruce sat down with journalists in China. Back home on Tyneside, there was a furore over his appointment as Rafa Benitez’s successor.

At the time Bruce appealed for sceptical supporters to reserve their judgement until he had got to work at his boyhood club.

United are 13th in the Premier League – and 12 points above the relegation zone – ahead of the tie. Does Bruce feel vindicated?

“It’s not about me personally now – it’s about everybody concerned with Newcastle,” said Bruce.

“I said from day one ‘can we go and treat the cups as if we’ve got a chance of winning them?’. Any Premier League club surely has that chance. We couldn’t have wished for more formidable opposition in the quarter-final, but we’ve come this far, even if it would be great to have St James’s Park packed to the rafters.

“In terms of criticism and things like that, I’ve always said ‘let people judge when you’ve been given a period of time’.

“I’ve now been in the club nearly 12 months. I’m gradually getting to know them, although there’s still a bit of work to do. It’s still all to play for – all you can do is let people judge on what you’ve done and what you’ve achieved when the season finishes.”

Bruce took Hull City to an FA Cup final six years ago, and that experience emboldened Bruce at a club which has prioritised Premier League survival at the expense of the cups under Ashley.

However, Newcastle’s comfortable league position means the quarter-final is the “biggest” game left for the club, which last won the FA Cup in 1955.

“Yeah, it’s arguably the biggest game,” said Bruce, whose side beat West Bromwich Albion, Oxford United and Rochdale in the previous rounds. “Yeah, for me, absolutely.

“It would be great to get to a semi-final. As I said when I first walked through the door, I wanted to prioritise the cup, and I’ve said many times, my perception of it all changed (with Hull). We’re never going to win the Premier League, but a Premier League team can win the FA Cup if you get a good draw.

“The draw has been kind so far, apart from this one, so it is the biggest game. It would have been great to have a packed St James’s, but let’s try to see what we can do against them.

“Let’s hope we can pull off a shock and get to a semi-final, which then would be a great occasion.”

The occasion, however, wouldn’t be the same given that the semi-finals will be played behind closed doors because of the coronavirus pandemic.

First, however, Newcastle must beat City at home without the backing of their fans.

Bruce said: “Even now, a quarter-final, let's be fair, against a great club like Manchester City and a great team, how great it would have been to have been in front of a full St James's Park in a cup-tie? It would have been terrific.”

Liverpool yesterday took the Premier League title from City following a defeat for Pep Guardiola’s side at Chelsea.

“Well, it's looks as if they're going to be runners-up in the Premier League, and they'll not like that,” said Bruce. “The one thing they have been over the years now is serial winners, whether it's the FA Cup or the League Cup – they seem to own that one – they're a very very good side and we'll have to be at our best.

“They'll treat the cups, I'm sure now, as something to look forward to. They've got the Champions League, and of course they've got the FA Cup, which they'll, I'm sure, put their attention to.

“Whenever you play Manchester City, you know that you're going to have to be at your best. They've got some of the best players in the world performing and that's what makes them pretty formidable, especially the way they play.

“Whether it's the FA Cup, whatever competition it's in, Manchester City these days are the real deal, so we're going to have to be at our best.

“We managed to be somewhere close to it earlier in the season, let's hope we can reproduce that and see if we can pull off a shock.”

On Liverpool’s first title in 30 years, Bruce said: “Well, I was playing the last time they won it – it seems a long time ago. For them to be waiting 30 years, it just shows you how difficult it is.

“But we can all say they are worthy champions. Considering after 31 games, they've dropped seven points, in this Premier League the way it is and to be 20-odd points clear, you can only congratulate them and say they are worthy, worthy champions.”