Steve Bruce made five changes to his starting line-up for the FA Cup clash with Oxford United at the Kassam Stadium.
Bruce opted to switch goalkeeper with Karl a Darlow handed his fourth appearance of the season.
And there was a return to the team for Florian Lejeune and Fabian Schar at the back.
Bruce also recalled the Longstaff brothers in his engine room for the fourth round replay.
But he had no choice but to start the night with Miguel Almiron and Joelinton with Andy Carroll, Dwight Gayle and Yoshinori Muto out injured.
Bruce had vowed before the game: “We will go as strong as we can.
“Getting to a cup final is something you talk about when you get the pipe and slippers stage.”
NUFC line up : Darlow, Schar, Lascelles, Lejeune, Yedlin, Ritchie, Bentaleb, Matty Longstaff, Sean Longstaff, Almiron, Joelinton
Subs : Elliot, Clark, Saint-Maximin, Allan, Atsu, Hayden, Fernandez
