He said: "No one wants to lose to bloody Rochdale, that's for sure. However, the FA Cup is the FA Cup and that's the beauty of it, we've seen it over the years.

"Newcastle, in recent years, have not gone far enough, so we'll try our best. I don't want to be that (the manager who loses to Rochdale). Why should I be?"

Newcastle fan Bruce was an 11-year-old schoolboy the day Southern League outfit Hereford stunned the Magpies by winning a third-round replay 2-1 with extra-time goals from Ronnie Radford and Ricky George after Malcolm Macdonald had put the visitors ahead, and was disappointed once again when his team reached the 1974 final against Liverpool.

He said: "The disappointment was the final when we got battered by Liverpool. I couldn't get a ticket. I was at home watching it with the black and white bunting down the windows.

"It was the only live game on the TV, so we had the whole build-up – and then got battered."

Bruce would, however, get his hands on the trophy as a Manchester United player, famously lifting it as captain of the double-winning side in 1994.

He said: "It's the best day of your life, be it as a manager, player or supporter."

Newcastle head for the Crown Oil Arena with a drastically depleted squad after a costly festive programme which is likely to rob them of 10 players including five of their six central defenders.

That may come as music to the ears of Dale's 40-year-old striker Aaron Wilbraham, although Bruce, who celebrated his 59th birthday on New Year's Eve, joked that he might come up with a radical solution to his selection problem.

He said: "They've got a 40-year-old striker, but maybe we'll have a 60-year-old centre-half and I'll play!"