The Magpies take on the Brewers for the first time ever this weekend, with the free-scoring Magpies – who have netted six without conceding in their last two outings – looking to hold their place at the division’s summit.

But former England international Clough, who is in his second spell in charge of 21st-placed Burton, says his side are capable of competing with anyone on their own patch.

“Newcastle have quality throughout the side,” he said. “But we are here, at home and at the Pirelli Stadium we will give anyone a game and that’s what we intend to do.

“It will be a full house and if the crowd gets behind us as they always do, that will help."

As recently as 14 years ago, Burton had just won promotion to the Conference – at a time when Sir Bobby Robson’s United side were playing Champions League football.

And Clough believes the fact the two clubs are now meeting in the second tier shows just how much progress has been made at the Pirelli Stadium in a relatively short space of time.

“It’s the biggest mismatch of the season in terms of a league game anywhere in the country. When we were in the Unibond not so many years ago we were playing Accrington Stanley and Bradford Park Avenue at this stage of the season. That shows how far we have come.

"I think the realistic ones among our supporters are just going to sit back and enjoy having teams like Newcastle come to town. We want to enjoy every minute of it and hopefully we might have it again next year.”