Watford Under-18s will need to cope with the pressure if they are to overcome favourites Newcastle United in the FA Youth Cup tonight, according to their coach David Hughes.

The Hornets travelled to Newcastle yesterday ahead of their fourth round tie with the Magpies at St James' Park and it will be a new experience for the majority of the squad.

Hughes, who took over in the summer, described the game as "a massive occasion" and admitted some of the players may have been looking ahead to tonight's match when a strong Hornets side lost to Reading Under-18s on Saturday - to extend their winless run to four matches.

But Hughes stressed: "I believe that no matter who we play, if we perform how I know we can then we can always get a positive result.

"We need to cut out the silly mistakes but if we perform, then we are capable of beating anybody."

"We will find out Thursday whether they can handle the pressure," Hughes continued.

"It will be a challenge for the lads mentally because the preparation will be different as we are travelling up the night before and staying over.

"So that is another challenge and we want to see how they cope with that pressure. There will not be any pressure from the staff and we will be trying to take the pressure off them but the players will be putting pressure on themselves due to the occasion.

"Newcastle will be favourites due to the furore surrounding the Premier League but being the underdogs will favour us."

For those planning on attending tonight's match, which kicks off at 7pm, the tickets are £3 for adults and £1 for concessions.

Hughes' reaction to Saturday's defeat can be seen here.