Eddie Howe speaks of 'delicate balance' with team selection ahead of Newcastle United's Champions League tie with Qarabag on Tuesday
Eddie Howe has some big decisions to make ahead of Newcastle United's Champions League play-off second leg with Qarabag on Tuesday night. The game is live on TNT Sports and Amazon Prime and gets underway at 8pm.
The Magpies carry a comfortable five-goal lead into the home tie and will be expected to increase that gap by the end of the game.
Eddie Howe will likely make plenty of changes to his side tomorrow, knowing that the job is pretty much done; however, he will want to guard against complacency and looking disrespectful towards the opposition.
There are several players who are badly in need of a rest, and tomorrow is the perfect opportunity to give them that, but it's about how the gaffer goes about it.
Eddie Howe wants to ensure his side doesn't lose rhythm after a run of good performances
Speaking to the media on Monday afternoon, Eddie Howe admitted there's a delicate balance to be struck when putting together his team for tomorrow.
"We'll look at the squad and try to pick a strong team. We want to win the game, that's the first target. In some senses we want to keep a good rhythm with the players.
It's a delicate balance between rotating the squad and making sure everyone's fresh and also making sure players don't lose rhythm and we don't lose the good feeling we've had."
There's never been a better time to give some of the kids a run out
The likes of Alex Murphy, Leo Shahar and Sean Neave have spent a lot of time on the bench with the first team this season, and many fans feel that they should be given the opportunity to feature tomorrow.
We've got our eye on at least one of that trio starting tomorrow, which you'll see in our predicted lineup later.
Yoane Wissa and Sven Botman are also set to feature tomorrow and they could do with some game time to build up their fitness, so we expect the team to be a good mix of first team players and fringe players.
