Newcastle United boss Steve McClaren has vowed to take this season's FA Cup seriously as the Magpies prepare to face Watford in round three this weekend.

Newcastle have been eliminated in the third round of the competition in each of the last three campaigns, but while admitting that he will be forced to make some changes, McClaren has said that he will take the competition seriously.

"We want to win and we want to gather momentum. It is a chance to do that. The performance last week [in the 1-0 defeat to Arsenal] was excellent but we didn't get the result," he told reporters.

"We have one or two players who have got niggles. It is a big risk and we have to decide if we play them or not - what the risk is in terms of another game in three days.

"We will assess it but you can guarantee that it will be the strongest team we can possibly put out without taking a huge amount of risk. We have to field a strong team tomorrow because we want to win the game. We need the squad to step forward. We need everyone. Everyone has to be ready."

Newcastle have not been past the fourth round of the FA Cup since 2006.