As much as he enjoyed last season's 5-1 FA Cup thrashing of Newcastle United, Mat Sadler insists he'd settle for a "boring 1-0 win" when Birmingham City visit St James' Park this weekend.

The Blues defender, who is hoping his first-team fortunes will improve under new manager Alex McLeish, was part of the City side that looked to be going out of the cup last January when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home.

But in the third round replay, what was then Steve Bruce's side, silenced the Toon Army by leading 2-0 at half time, thanks to Gary McSheffrey and an own goal from Nolberto Solano, then scoring three times in 30 second-half minutes, through Bruno N'Gotty, Sebastian Larsson and DJ Campbell, to stun the hosts.

What made it an even bigger achievement were the facts Birmingham were a division lower at the time and no-one had put five past Newcastle on their own patch for 93 years.

Although they were knocked out by Reading ten days later it was one of the most remarkable performances during Bruce's six-year tenure.

McLeish was able to pull off a similarly spectacular outcome in last weekend's 3-2 win at Tottenham Hotspur - in his first match in charge - and, as much as Sadler enjoyed that game, he's hoping for something rather less dramatic this weekend.

"The highest time would be promotion but it was a superb one-off victory," the left-back recalled. "The old manager would have said that it was one of his best wins he ever had. In that respect it would have to be one of mine - not many teams go to Newcastle and win 5-1.

"A bit has changed since then though. We've got a new manager and we're in the Premier League, Birmingham City is a totally different place.

"I wouldn't imagine they will want us to beat them five again, that's for sure. It was a one off, we would take a one-nil now, even if it's boring and we have to scrape it."

Sadler believes that the win at White Hart Lane was ideal preparation for what could be a crucial match for Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce.

Having taken the lead through a McSheffrey penalty, Blues were steamrollered at the start of the second half and trailed 2-1 going into the final half hour.

But a superb finish from Cameron Jerome and a wonder-goal from Larsson deep into stoppage time put them in buoyant mood for Saturday's trip to the North-east.

"At 2-1 down we would definitely have taken the draw," Sadler admitted. "But as it turns out Seba sticks one in the top corner.

"You could see from everyone's reaction that three points has been a rarity for us and we celebrated it accordingly. It was a brilliant win that we needed to give us that little kick. That can only be a positive going up to Newcastle."

Whether that positiveness extends to Sadler's personal situation is not yet clear. Stuart Parnaby and Rafael Schmitz spent time in his position at Spurs and he was once again on duty with the reserves in Monday night's 2-0 loss to Aston Villa.

After making something of a breakthrough last term, Sadler has played only four times this season, twice in the League Cup, and not at all since the end of September. It has been a frustrating time for the 22-year-old but one he has vowed to see through having turned down several opportunities at going on loan.

McLeish's appointment has given Sadler even more faith that he will be able to force his way back into the starting line-up.

"Everyone has got a chance now," he said. "I will listen to the manager and whenever that chance to play comes - which will hopefully be soon - I want to take it.

"Time will tell whether it's been a good change for me. The new management look very, very good and I'm looking forward to working with all of them."