The 50-year-old will take charge of the contest at St. James’ Park, and it will be his first fixture involving the Magpies this term.

Cheshire whistler Dean was promoted to the Select Group of referees in 2000, and has since become an established top-level official, overseeing FA Cup and League Cup finals as well as European and International fixtures.

The weekend’s game will be his 14th outing of the campaign, which has seen him cover Premier League, Championship and Checkatrade Trophy clashes. So far this term, he has dished out 54 yellow cards and four reds, including one to Spurs’ Jan Vertonghen in last Sunday’s North London derby against Arsenal.

Last season, Dean refereed just one Magpies game – the 1-0 defeat at Burnley in October 2017.

He will be assisted on Sunday by Darren Cann and Dan Robathan, while Simon Hooper will be the fourth official.