Newcastle United will be attempting to end a 47-year streak in the EFL Cup when they play Leicester City on Tuesday night.
Despite sitting in the top four of the Premier League standings, the Magpies have aspirations to win some silverware this campaign.
However, that ambition took a significant hit on Saturday evening as Eddie Howe's side were eliminated from the FA Cup courtesy of a 2-1 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday.
Although there is an argument that Newcastle can now place more focus on their efforts to qualify for next season's Champions League, Howe and his squad will want to prolong their participation in the EFL Cup as long as possible.
The North East outfit have reached the quarter-finals courtesy of progressing past Tranmere Rovers, Crystal Palace and Bournemouth.
Newcastle will fancy their chances of going even further in the tournament ahead of facing opponents who they comfortably defeated 3-0 in the Premier League as recently as Boxing Day.
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Nevertheless, Newcastle head into Tuesday's encounter at St James' Park having failed in their last seven attempts to earn a spot in the last four.
Their most recent appearance in the semi-finals came all the way back in 1975-76, when they eventually lost to Manchester City in the final.
Two decades passed by before Newcastle featured in the last eight again, with the most recent seven quarter-final exits all coming since 1995-96.
Newcastle have reached this stage on just three occasions in 15 years, last losing to Brentford by a 1-0 scoreline in December 2020.
However, Leicester also possess a poor record in last-eight fixtures in this competition, exiting four times in five attempts to reach the semi-finals.
The Foxes are yet to concede in this year's tournament, a period lasting three games, and they most recently went four successive ties with shutouts when they won the trophy in 1997.
Darren Plant
