THE North-East's big three have all been drawn at home in the FA Cup third round.
Newcastle United face a tricky task after they were handed an all-Premier League tie against Cardiff City in the first weekend of 2014.
The Magpies will be pleased to have been drawn at St James', having crashed out of the FA Cup at Brighton in each of the last two seasons, but Cardiff will provide a stern test despite their position in the bottom half of the top-flight table.
Newcastle faced Cardiff in the FA Cup in 1926 and 1939, winning on each occasion.
Sunderland are also at home, with League One side Carlisle United due to travel across the Pennines to the Stadium of Light.
Carlisle, who are managed by former Black Cats midfielder Graham Kavanagh, booked their place in the third round by beating Brentford 3-2 on Saturday.
They last faced Sunderland in the FA Cup in 1995, with two Gordon Armstrong goals helping the Wearsiders claim a 3-1 win in Cumbria after the original third-round tie in the North-East finished 1-1.
Middlesbrough were drawn at home in the third round for the third successive season, but face top-flight opposition in the form of Steve Bruce's Hull City.
The sides met in the Championship last season, with goals from Faris Haroun and Ishmael Miller securing Boro a 2-0 win on Teesside.
Their last FA Cup meeting came in January 2007, with Mark Viduka scoring twice as Boro edged a seven-goal thriller 4-3.
Hartlepool United were also involved in the third-round draw, and if Colin Cooper's side can beat Coventry City in a second-round replay, they will travel to the Championship's bottom side, Barnsley.
There were five all-Premier League ties in total, with the pick pairing North London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham at the Emirates.
Manchester United will host Swansea City at Old Trafford, while none of the non-league teams left in the competition were handed a particularly attractive tie.
FA CUP THIRD-ROUND DRAW:
(Games to be played on the weekend of January 4-5)
Barnsley vs HARTLEPOOL or Coventry
Yeovil vs Leyton Orient
Liverpool vs Oldham or Mansfield
Nottm Forest vs West Ham
Bristol City vs Watford
Southend vs Millwall
MIDDLESBROUGH vs Hull
West Brom vs Crystal Palace
Kidderminster vs Peterborough
Doncaster vs Stevenage
Stoke vs Leicester
Southampton vs Burnley
NEWCASTLE vs Cardiff
Rochdale vs Leeds
Wigan vs MK Dons
Charlton vs Wrexham or Oxford
Man United vs Swansea
Port Vale vs Plymouth
Norwich vs Fulham
Aston Villa vs Sheff Utd
Macclesfield vs Sheff Wed
SUNDERLAND vs Carlisle
Bolton vs Blackpool
Blackburn vs Man City
Everton vs QPR
Brighton vs Reading
Arsenal vs Tottenham
Birmingham vs Bristol Rovers or Crawley
Grimsby vs Huddersfield
Ipswich vs Preston
Derby vs Chelsea
Bournemouth vs Fleetwood or Burton
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