MILD-MANNERED Aaron Hughes has urged Newcastle United's under-the-spotlight stars to forget about 'sulking' and concentrate on helping the club through its latest crisis.

As they prepare to confirm the return to St James' Park of Terry McDermott as coach this morning, the Magpies' preparations for tomorrow's FA Cup tie with Coventry have been overshadowed by the Craig Bellamy saga.

Bellamy's situation looks no nearer being resolved after manager Graeme Souness refused to back down on accusations that the fiery Welshman feigned injury to avoid playing right midfield at Arsenal last weekend.

But Hughes has also found himself on the bench recently following the arrivals of Jean-Alain Boumsong and Celestine Babayaro, as well as the emergence of Steven Taylor as a full back.

However, the 25-year-old is refusing to direct any anger at Souness, choosing instead to ask the whole Newcastle squad to pull together in an attempt to turn the corner.

"There's no point crying about it. You just have to continue to do your work in training, make sure you put the hours in and show the manager what you are capable of," said Hughes, who went on as a substitute at Highbury.

"It's difficult to not be in the team but it's the same for any player who has been playing regularly and finds himself in and out. It's hard to deal with but what can you do?

"It's important for the rest of the team that there's no-one sulking and there's no-one huffing and puffing.

"The spirit is good. You just have to get your head down on the training field and, when you do get little chances, like I did at Arsenal, you have to make sure you do as well as you can."

Championship strugglers Coventry City's visit to Tyneside should normally be regarded as an easy route into the FA Cup fifth round.

But, following another week of controversy at Newcastle, there is now added pressure to progressing beyond the Sky Blues, ironically the club Bellamy joined from in a £6m deal in 2001.

"It may be the FA Cup but, for us, it's just another game. Regardless of what the competition is, we have to treat this like all other games. We have to win it," said Hughes.

"We're at home against lower-league opponents but we can't take a win for granted. We will have to work for it as we do at any other time.

"This is a big game for us and we have to prepare for it properly.

"If we do that we have a chance of going through to the next round. It doesn't matter what competition we're playing in or who we are playing against.

"For us it's another game and another game we need to win.

"Even though we lost at Arsenal we can still take a bit of confidence into the weekend.

"It wasn't to be, but we fought hard and now we have to bounce back and get back on track. We need to get on a winning run if we can."

The arrival of Portsmouth midfielder Amdy Faye, who will be unveiled to the Press along with McDermott today, has given Newcastle much-needed cover in the middle.

Jermaine Jenas has been asked to play more of a defensive role with Nicky Butt ruled out for at least another month. And Hughes said: "JJ has been playing in the role of a holding midfielder and he has been doing really well in it.

"It would be unfair to start saying that it's something we have needed. We have been unfortunate with Nicky Butt and his injury but JJ has done a good job.

"The good thing about him is that he doesn't just sit in and break up the play, he can also see a pass. He can go forward with it."

Meanwhile, the swoop to take McDermott back to Tyneside has surprised everyone.

After all he has previously worked alongside Kevin Keegan and Kenny Dalglish in the St James' dug-outs.

The former Liverpool man, who played for five years alongside Souness in the Anfield midfield, also made 168 appearances for Newcastle, scoring 24 goals.

McDermott's coaching days at Newcastle initially came to an end when Ruud Gullit succeeded Dalglish. He completes the backroom staff with Souness having having already drafted in Dean Saunders, Alan Murray, Phil Boersma and Roy Tunks.

Newcastle winger Laurent Robert, despite insisting he hopes to extend his stay beyond 2006, has apparently emerged as a target for Real Mallorca coach Hecto Cuper.

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