The 51-year-old referee has been appointed for the game at the John Smith’s Stadium, which is the second of three successive away games for Newcastle.

Wiltshire whistler East has taken charge of 24 games in the Premier League, Championship, League One, League Two, the FA Cup and Checkatrade Trophy showing a total of 104 yellow cards in those matches.

In addition to that, East has dished out five red cards, including two during Portsmouth’s 4-0 win over Mansfield in November.

And Saturday’s game will be the second United game he’s taken charge of this season, after he oversaw the 1-0 win at Rotherham in October in which Christian Atsu’s strike separated the sides.

East has been refereeing top flight matches since 2012, while he became part of the select group of Premier League referees ahead of the 2013/14 campaign.

He will be assisted by Daniel Cook and Andy Halliday on Saturday, while David Coote will be the fourth official.