Newcastle take on AZ Alkmaar in the second leg of their UEFA cup tie on Thursday evening and must be well fancied to make it through to the quarter finals of the tournament for the third time in their history.

Allowing two goals at St James Park last week however has left a little doubt in the minds of some since a 2-0 win for Alkmaar would be enough to take them through - so there can be no defensive frailties on Thursday night.

With no game over the weekend the Magpies have had ample time to fully prepare for this tie and they should be expected to reach the quarter finals without too much trouble.

However, as we all know - being a Geordie fan has never been easy - and we can only hope that the defense is fully awake right from the start - and does not concede an early goal, otherwise Newcastle could be in trouble.

However, when you look at the stats, Newcastle have done surprisingly well during the last two seasons they have been in the UEFA cup (2004-5 and this season).

Under Souness in 2004-2005 Newcastle played 14 UEFA cup games (including two in the Inter-Toto Cup); won 11 drew 2 and lost only 1 (the second leg quarter final in Lisbon to Sporting 4-1; after leading the tie 2-0).

This year Newcastle have played 13 UEFA games (including two in the Inter-Toto Cup), won 10 and drawn 3.

That means that in the last 27 games in Europe since 2004 - they have won 21, drawn 5 and lost 1….not a bad record at all and why Newcastle are highly seeded in the UEFA cup.

Roeder and Pearson are also starting to show some progress for their hard work on the training ground – particularly with the defense. Titus Bramble, to his credit, has returned from injury and played extremely well at the back with Stephen Taylor. Gooch, on loan from Standard Leige is ineligible for the UEFA cup having already appeared with Leige this season. Nobby Solano (the Peruvian Geordie) is also back at right back where he has been just great of late.

Of course Newcastle these days are a reasonably good attacking outfit and with Martins, Dyer and Milner in top form it will not be a surprise if Newcastle get some goals themselves tomorrow night – particularly from Obefemi Martins – who was simply electric in the first half last Thursday night….and already has 16 goals this season – his first in the Premiership - and he is still just 22 years old.

If Newcastle can commit themselves and make it through on Thursday evening then their season is still very much alive and we would expect the favorites to be FC Sevilla (holders), Tottenham and Newcastle, with an all English final a real possibility.