Celestine Babayaro faces his former club Chelsea tomorrow at St James' Park. Cheif sports writer Scott Wilson caught up with the defender ahead of his Sunday reunion.

WHEN actor Kevin Costner won critical acclaim for his portrayal of Elliot Ness in 1987, many feared that his career could only go downhill from there.

But, just as Costner went on to win two Oscars and a Golden Globe following his appearance alongside Sean Connery and Andy Garcia, so Newcastle full-back Celestine Babayaro is desperate to prove that he too can survive after leaving football's version of "The Untouchables".

At the start of the season, Babayaro was an integral part of a Chelsea squad that currently stand on the brink of their first domestic title in 50 years.

But, instead of helping Jose Mourinho's side close in on an unprecedented quadruple when Chelsea take on Newcastle in the fifth round of the FA Cup tomorrow, the Nigeria international will be charged with plotting their downfall.

This weekend's game will be the first time that Babayaro has run into his former team-mates since he became one of the most high-profile victims of Mourinho's makeover.

The Chelsea boss insisted that everyone would be given a fair crack of the whip when he brought his Portuguese panache to the King's Road this summer.

Yet, despite offering sterling service in his eight years at Stamford Bridge, it did not take long for Babayaro to work out that Mourinho's 'everyone' did not include him.

After starting just four games in the first half of the season, the 26-year-old was left with a stark choice - stay put and play a peripheral role in creating footballing history, or move elsewhere and risk swapping guaranteed success for the frustrations of failure.

In the end, the equation was a simple one.

Never one for the easy life - Babayaro was only 16 when he left his native Nigeria to pursue a career in European football with Belgian side Anderlecht - the full-back informed Mourinho of his desire to leave.

Soon he was putting pen to paper at St James' Park but, while he concedes that Chelsea are currently blazing a trail for others to follow, he is desperate to prove that his move to the North-East need not be seen as a step down the ladder.

Ambition is a difficult trait to measure and, in Babayaro's eyes at least, helping Newcastle end their own trophy drought would mean more than making a handful of token appearances for Chelsea.

"At the moment, Chelsea are the untouchables of English football," said Babayaro, who first sprang to prominence when he helped Nigeria win Olympic gold in 1996.

"They've been progressing quite nicely for a few years now but, as soon as Mourinho took over, the whole thing changed. He has changed the make-up of the club from top to bottom.

"When Jose came, I didn't start to think 'I don't have a future at the club'.

"I thought it would be the same as it had been - difficult, but if I got my head down and worked hard, I'd stay.

"When I spoke to Jose he told me I'd get a fair chance. He said everyone would get a fair chance, but I got a couple of injuries. Maybe I missed that chance.

"I could have stayed and been a part of what is happening there. I could be playing in the Champions League, challenging for a Premiership title.

"But why would I want to do that? I wanted to play. After eight years, it was time to move on.

"Now my only thoughts are with Newcastle. It would be a bigger achievement to win a first trophy with Newcastle than it would have been to be on the fringes of winning things with Chelsea."

Nevertheless, footballers are a notoriously fragile bunch and such a public dismissal must have been hard to take.

Not according to Babayaro.

The African could be excused for wanting to wring Mourinho's neck when the pair meet before kick-off tomorrow.

Instead, the defender will shake his old boss' hand and continue to marvel at the blend of ability and arrogance that has elevated him to the reverential status normally reserved for only Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger.

"I certainly won't be going out there thinking I've got a point to prove to him," said Babayaro, who is expected to have recovered from the dead leg he suffered in Heerenveen in time for tomorrow's game.

"I am a big fan of his. I was there when he arrived.

"He brought his ideas with him and he made sure the players at the club understood where they were straight away.

"People have described him as rude and arrogant, but I totally disagree with that.

"He's not arrogant - he's just trying to pass his way of thinking on to everyone else at the club.

"He thinks in a very specific way. He has his own style of coaching and, while some people might question some of the things he wants to do, he believes in them 100 per cent.

"That change has coincided with Chelsea doing the business. Every game, you can see the extent to which the players are believing in themselves and believing in what they are doing.

"They think they are going to win, no matter who they are playing against."

They will no doubt be expecting to win again tomorrow after having suffered just two defeats all season - a surprise one-goal slip-up at Manchester City and an excusable Champions League reverse in Porto.

The Blues can also draw confidence from November's Carling Cup clash in which 90 minutes of stalemate were followed by two flashes of genius from Eidur Gudjohnsen and Arjen Robben.

Tellingly, though, Robben will not be bob, bob, bobbing down the Newcastle wing this weekend and, with inspirational skipper John Terry also sidelined, the Magpies could be putting their FA Cup credentials on the line at the most opportune of times.

With Barcelona to come in the Champions League next week, Mourinho is also set to rest Petr Cech, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba and, despite the impressive depth of the Chelsea squad, such a lengthy absentee list could prove crucial.

"Chelsea have a few of their big players out and that can only help us," said Babayaro.

"John Terry's been brilliant this season and Arjen Robben will not be playing either.

"I'm not sure if Didier Drogba is going to make it, so that could really tip the balance in our favour.

"Vital players are not going to be involved in the game.

"We can't rely on that though. We have to concentrate on playing our own game and making sure that we do everything we can to achieve a victory.

"Thursday was a hard game. We were disappointed with the way we played in the first half, but the final result sets us up well for the second leg. Things have not gone as well as we would have liked in the league, so the cups are especially important to us this season.

"The league is out of our reach but, in the UEFA and FA Cups, we have a chance. If I win a trophy at Newcastle, I will retire a happy man."

Elliott Ness retired a happy man, but his career did not finish with "The Untouchables".

After disbanding the group that brought down Al Capone, Ness spent another decade fighting violent crime and helped to snare America's most vicious serial killer, the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run.

Perhaps, for Babayaro, there are also more successes to come.