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Steve Harper admits he would love to go all the way to Wembley this season.

The Geordie goalkeeper kept a clean sheet in Hull’s easy win at the Riverside – then said he wants to make up for his 1999 FA Cup heartache.

Harper made a rare appearance for Newcastle in their 2-0 defeat against Manchester United at the Twin Towers 15 years ago.

And the 38-year-old said: “Every professional footballer would love to have an FA Cup win on their CV and I’m no different.

“I would love to go back to Wembley 15 years later and win it.

“I don’t remember much about ‘99 final. It was only my eighth start at Newcastle and if we’d won it I wouldn’t have bought a drink in Newcastle since!”

Steve Bruce made several changes from Hull’s New Year’s Day defeat at Liverpool, and Harper reckons the boss was spot on.

“The Premier League has become this huge mammoth beast of a league, which has become the priority for teams that want to get there and stay there,” said Harper.

“But it is a great opportunity for Premier League clubs to utilise their squad and give people a game.

“The lads that have been playing in the league deserved a break and the rest of us were chomping at the bit for a game.

“It was a good win. The only disappointing thing was that I didn’t get to play against Shay Given because having played for so long together at Newcastle that was my first thought when I saw the draw.”

Boro ‘keeper Dimi Konstantopoulos was at fault for Hull’s opening goal when he let Aaron McLean poke home after just 10 minutes on his debut for the Teessiders.

But the Greek shot-stopper bemoaned Boro’s luck, saying: “I don’t think the game went for us from the beginning.

“Hull got the lucky breaks when they needed them, especially with the first goal. It was a shot, and the ball landed at the lad’s feet.

“That probably set them off, but we tried and we kept fighting to the last minute.”

Nick Proschwitz hammered home Hull’s second goal on the hour as woeful Boro crashed out with a sorry display.