YOU could easily have left St Andrew’s thinking the FA Cup doesn’t really matter to Birmingham City or Newcastle United after a third round tie that hardly set pulses racing.

Try telling that to Daryl Murphy or the near 4,700 fans who made the trip down from Tyneside in the hope of taking a first step towards Wembley.

While Gianfranco Zola and his players suggested in the match-day programme that the league is the priority, as thousands of Birmingham fans stayed away to leave swathes of empty blue and white seats, this should have been Newcastle’s day.

But the Magpies, sporting a new-look system and an unfamiliar line-up of fringe players, had their own way of showing that progressing into the fourth round of the FA Cup is not an essential this season – even if they remain in with a chance of avoiding a third round exit for the fifth year in a row.

Yet while Newcastle, who started brightly enough, struggled to maintain their energy levels because a number of their players were not match fit, this was not an outing that Murphy will forget in a hurry.

In the net which had the huge band of Newcastle supporters behind it, the 33-year-old was on hand to force a loose ball over the line after Achraf Lazaar’s corner inside the fifth minute.

Having only made one start for Newcastle – in the EFL Cup in September – since his £3.5m move from Ipswich last summer, the relief and satisfaction was clear on Murphy’s face as he celebrated and then as he chatted outside the dressing room after the final whistle.

The Irishman said: “You can do all the fitness you want but training-wise nothing compares to playing in games. That 90 minutes will have done me the world of good but I am still just lacking a bit of sharpness which will only come with games.

“I picked up an injury after my first start and the injury dragged on. I came back but it wasn’t right and I had to go back to square one. It happened a few times and I had to take my time and make sure it was right.

“I have waited a while for a chance as we have done so well but I got a start here and have scored. It has been a long wait for another start. Wolves in the Cup was my last one. It has been a while and a long wait. It was definitely worth the wait but I am disappointed we drew the game.”

Murphy faded as the game wore on, understandable given this was his second full 90 minutes since arriving from Ipswich and only his fourth outing. The frustrating thing for him – and Benitez – was that his partnership with Aleksandar Mitrovic was cut short.

Mitrovic suffered a severe cut to his knee from a clash with goalkeeper Adam Legzdins at the same time as Murphy was finding the net. The Serbian had to be replaced by the versatile Yoan Gouffran.

Murphy said: “It’s been hard to look on and watch this team, when you see some of the deliveries that our wide players like Matt Ritchie in particular, his delivery is absolutely brilliant. You are sitting in the stand week in week out dying to be on the end of those crosses. I got lucky here and was in the right place at the right time.

“The injury to Mitro was bad. I don’t know what happened. I have seen the cut, it was a bad one. He was a big loss in the game. The two of us up there would have been a handful for their backline. But hopefully he will be OK and be back soon.

“It was always my aim to just get my head down when I came here. I knew I wasn’t going to walk into the team or anything like that. I was just waiting for a chance and thankfully I have scored.”

Murphy is likely to find himself back on the bench again at Brentford this weekend to accommodate leading scorer Dwight Gayle, although he could find himself back in the side for the replay at St James’ Park a week on Wednesday.

The return fixture was secured by former Middlesbrough striker Lukas Jutkiewicz’s close-range finish in the 42nd minute when he was in the right place in the six yard box to convert a centre from another Boro old boy, Jonathan Grounds.

There had already been a couple of scares for Newcastle’s three-man defence – made up of Jamaal Lascelles, Grant Hanley and Massadio Haidara – before that equaliser. There were even greater scares after that too.

Perhaps the fitness levels of Newcastle’s fringe players was always going to play a part and Birmingham were the team that looked the most likely to progress in the second half. Had Jutkiewicz netted one of two fantastic headed chances in the closing stages then they would have.

Instead Newcastle survived, remain in the hat and they could well stay in there if Benitez wants to treat it a little more seriously next week.