Newcastle boss Chris Hughton will ring the changes once again as he attempts to secure a place in the Carling Cup quarter-finals at the expense of Arsenal.
Hughton will rest several of his key men ahead of Sunday's derby clash with Sunderland, with striker Andy Carroll among those likely to be left out.
Tamas Kadar, Shane Ferguson and Haris Vuckic, who have been involved in the earlier rounds, are in line for starts, although Sol Campbell (thigh) will miss out and the game will come too soon for Steven Taylor (shoulder) despite his return to full training.
Steve Harper (shoulder), Leon Best (ankle), Hatem Ben Arfa (double leg fracture) and Dan Gosling (knee) are still sidelined.
Hughton is determined to condemn Arsenal to the same fate as Chelsea.
He freely admits that Barclays Premier League survival is his club's overwhelming priority this season, and their prospects of achieving that look an awful lot brighter in the wake of Saturday's 2-1 win at West Ham.
However, progress in the League Cup would be a welcome bonus as he attempts to re-establish the momentum which served the club so well in their promotion campaign last season.
Hughton said: "It's exciting in every round. We went to Accrington in our first game - I had been to watch a game there, but never played there and most of the players had never played there, so that was something new and exciting in itself.
"To go to Stamford Bridge was always going to be tough, but it was a really exciting day in front of a full house at Stamford Bridge, and you couldn't have got a more exciting game than that.
"Now the fact that we are playing Arsenal, albeit that Arsenal will, I am quite sure, make several changes, as we will, it's exciting in every round.
"I am appreciative that it is a very big game for us. It's a game we want to give the respect it deserves, and it's a competition we very much want to stay in.
"But I have a responsibility to look after the best interests of the squad and the club, and I will be making some changes.''
Meanwhile, Arsene Wenger is again likely to select a strong squad for the tie.
Nicklas Bendtner and Theo Walcott are both fit following injury and could feature after coming off the bench in the 3-0 Barclays Premier League win over 10-man Manchester City, while youngsters Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, Kieran Gibbs, Henri Lansbury - who scored in the last round at White Hart Lane - and goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny will probably be included again.
Centre-half Laurent Koscielny has recovered from a back problem, but Thomas Vermaelen (Achilles), Robin van Persie (ankle), Manuel Almunia (elbow) and Aaron Ramsey (leg) are still sidelined, while England midfielder Jack Wilshere continues to serve a three-match ban.
Teenage frontman Emmanuel-Thomas is ready to offer "something different'' to the Arsenal attack should he be thrown into action.
Emmanuel-Thomas, who had been linked with a loan move to Championship leaders QPR, has chalked up eight goals in five matches for the Arsenal reserves, and was a late substitute in the defeat at Chelsea earlier this month.
The 19-year-old would relish another first-team opportunity up at St James' Park.
"I think I can offer something different. There is no-one that plays exactly my style,'' Emmanuel-Thomas told the club's official website, http://www.arsenal.com/.
"I am a big guy that likes to run with the ball and beat players. I can create chances, I can score goals, I can make goals and the way I see things in the game has become a lot better than it used to be.
"I have got to keep doing it and keep showing that it is not just a one-off."
"Hopefully the boss will see what I am doing and that I am doing it on a regular basis and hopefully he will give me my chance.''
Source: ESPN Soccernet on 26 Oct 10
No comments:
Post a Comment