Which is the real Newcastle? Big Sam hoping for repeat of Arsenal performance

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• More Premier League news club by club

The Magpies head for Stoke in the FA Cup third round on Sunday knowing only a victory will ease the pressure on their 53-year-old boss.

Allardyce's side needs to rekindle the spirit of last month's 1-1 draw with the Gunners.

Newcastle boss Sam Allardyce: hoping for Gunners rerun

He said: "Which is the real Newcastle? The one that played excellently against Arsenal at St James' Park and also defeated Spurs and Everton in style, or the one that fell to defeat at Wigan, Reading and Derby?"

Meanwhile Newcastle will never take their longed-for place among the English game's elite unless they learn the value of stability, according to midfielder Nicky Butt.

The 32-year-old has spoken out amid fevered speculation over the future of Allardyce, who is facing a key FA Cup clash at Stoke this weekend.

Butt spent more than a decade at Manchester United under just a single boss, Sir Alex Ferguson, and he believes it is time the north-east club begin to realise the damage that regular managerial changes do to their long-term prospects.

"Things will never improve unless he's given time," Butt said of Allardyce's precarious position.

"This club of all clubs can show you that. I've been here for three-and--a-half years now and I've had four managers.

"Sooner or later someone has got to say this is the manager we're going to stand by, in good times and bad times, and hopefully get the rewards at the end of it.

"If you look at all the big teams, like United and Arsenal, they're the clubs that have stood by managers for a long time. If we do that, I'm sure we'll do it right."