HE may have graduated through the Manchester United youth system during years of glory, but Danny Simpson has never played at Wembley - nor as he ever been to watch an FA Cup final there.

This season he has big ambitions of finally fulfilling ever young football fan's dream, accepting that Newcastle United must first seal a place in the fifth round by defeating Brighton & Hove Albion this evening.

Simpson was among the Manchester United fans in 2004 when they overcame Millwall at the Millennium Stadium and he returned 12 months later when they beat Arsenal on penalties.

But he has never been to Wembley to watch the end of season showpiece and is intent on making sure his first appearance at an FA Cup final in North London is with Newcastle.

"I'm English and I know what the FA Cup means," said Simpson. "I've watched it since I was a boy. We try to tell the foreign lads but they might not know what the FA Cup means as much as it we do. We tell them.

"I went to a couple of finals at Cardiff. I'm looking forward to winning on Saturday and hopefully going a long way.

"We felt we were quite close to glory in the Carling Cup and we were disappointed to lose that game (to Blackburn), so that has made us want to have a good FA Cup run even more. We've got the players to do it and the momentum. "We really believe now. It's going to be tough on Saturday but if we go there and perform like we can we're looking forward to being in the hat for the next round and having a good run."

Despite spending more than a decade at Old Trafford, Simpson's only medals have arrived in the shape of Championship medals courtesy of successful promotion campaigns with the Magpies and Sunderland.

And having been around the Manchester United camp during Sir Alex Ferguson's time in charge, Simpson thinks winning the first piece of silverware instils greater hunger in to a squad for the longer term and leads to more.

"I'm playing in a great Newcastle team that's going places at the moment so I think it's a great opportunity for more medals," said Salford-born Simpson. "I was three in 1990 when United won their first cup! It's a massive tournament.

"Every English lad as a kid growing up watches the final and you dream about going to Wembley and winning it. I'm no different now. I've got an opportunity. I'm playing in a great team and we've got to believe we can go there.

"We lost to Fulham and we don't want back-to-back defeats. You're always setting up your next game. It's not a nice feeling to lose and we didn't like it last week. We're looking to come out firing."