Steve Bruce has called for his Newcastle United players to make the step up this evening after being forced into more changes against Tottenham.
The Magpies will be aiming to bounce back from their weekend defeat at Watford on Saturday as they host Jose Mourinho’s side at St James’ Park.
Having been in superb form following the Premier League’s return to action, United have suffered back-to-back defeats in their last two outings, including a heavy 5-0 defeat at Manchester City.
Bruce has been forced to make more changes to his side though as the packed fixture schedule takes its toll.
The Magpies make three changes, with Emil Krafth, Deandre Yedlin and Nabil Bentaleb returning to the line-up this evening.
Despite the schedule clearly having an impact on his side, Bruce was eager not to make excuses, instead looking at it as an opportunity for some of his players to impress.
“Yeah, we’ve been without maybe six or seven,” Bruce told BT Sport. “That’s too big of a number, especially in the centre-back area and the central midfield area.
“It’s unfortunately took its toll. But we had an idea that it might do that, we’re not alone with that.
“We’ve said many times, you can’t use an excuse, that’s why we’ve got a squad as big as we have. It gives people an opportunity to go and see what they can do.”
