ALAN Pardew has confirmed that Matt Phillips and Craig Dawson will miss Saturday’s trip to Exeter, but has still promised to pick a strong side for the FA Cup clash.
“One player that is out is Matt Phillips, who we lost before West Ham, so he won’t be involved,” he confirmed.
“And the only other player that I will leave out, who has got a slight knock, is Craig Dawson.
“That’s because he’s played three games and his fatigue levels are very, very high and I cannot risk him. He’s been absolutely superb for us.
“So the two players that have come back and given us a big lift will be missing this game, and we’ll have to cope without them.
“It’s important that we get a win and get ourselves into the fourth round, and create some sort of excitement for our fans.
“We’ve got 350 fans going there and we need to deliver for them. I guarantee it will be a strong team.”