By Matthew Jones
July 11 2005

Neither manager or chairman are willing to look beyond Newcastle United's first game in the Intertoto Cup. The Magpies could fave Deportivo in the semi-final and then maybe Lazio or Marseille in the final, but as Souness and Sheperd say - lets get through round three first!

GRAEME SOUNESS: "I am not thinking beyond the first game in Slovakia on Sunday because it would be wrong to do so.

"I've been in football long enough to know that the minute you start taking your eye off the ball you can be punished.

"There are no easy games in football and our only focus must be the Dubnica game.

"In the normal run of things we would be seen as obvious favourites to win, but they are four weeks ahead of us in terms of fitness levels which is an advantage for them.

"We must concentrate on the job in hand and not start talking about who we might or might not play in later rounds - let's just try and get through this tie first, that has to be my take on things."

FREDDY SHEPHERD: "There are some top teams taking part in the Intertoto Cup this season.

"Our first priority is to get through the tie with Dubnica. If we do, there look to be some tough tests ahead.

"Certainly it could make for an exciting time. Sometimes you can play pre-season games which mean nothing, but these matches are definitely meaningful ones."

See the full draw here.