Tuesday 25 October 2016 23:20, UK
Newcastle boss Rafael Benitez was refusing to dream of EFL Cup glory as he turned his attention back to the business of winning promotion to the Premier League after a 6-0 rout of Preston.
Wednesday night's quarter-final draw could yet hand the Spaniard a showdown with former club Liverpool, but he was thinking only of Saturday's Sky Bet Championship reunion with North End at Deepdale within minutes of the final whistle at St James' Park.
Benitez said: "I have to concentrate just on Preston on Saturday, wait and see what happens in the draw and after, maybe I can answer those questions."
The Magpies, who head into the weekend three points clear at the top of the Championship table, made seven changes for Tuesday night's game, two fewer than the visitors, but they romped to victory as Preston midfielder Alan Browne's 25th-minute dismissal for an ugly challenge on Jack Colback did his side no favours.
Benitez, who was awaiting news of Colback's condition after he was taken to hospital for an assessment, was delighted with his side's display, but will take nothing for granted at the weekend.
He said: "They will try to amend the situation, they will try to change things, we will be playing away, so it will be totally different.
"It's another competition, so we have to enjoy it. Normally I say one or two days and after, concentrate on the next game. It will be tough, for sure."
Preston boss Simon Grayson, who had no complaints about Browne's premature departure, will hope it is a different story at the weekend.
He said: "It better be. I'm not going through that again on Saturday. This is a big arena, it's a big pitch - they make it big - it will be different on Saturday.
"I'm not going to make promises that it's going to be a different scoreline, but I'd like to think that it will be.
"We could have played our strongest team from Saturday and still been beaten tonight. The league is our priority, but we are hugely disappointed."
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