You want to field a team you believe can win
It’s a second round League Cup tie between two Premier League clubs so it is absolutely no surprise that both managers will be making changes from the teams in their last Premier League games.
Newcastle boss Steve Bruce has seen his team lose both their opening league games but has promised a strong team for tonight’s tie.
“We’ll be making changes because I’ve got a lot of lads who need to play,” Bruce said. “They need to get some minutes under their belt, and it’s the ideal opportunity, but we will be very, very strong.”
“And that goes for a lot of the squad too. That’s why we carry a squad the way we do now, and you will see, up and down the country, changes, because it is an ideal opportunity to get some minutes into your squad and play competitive football, and also put a marker down to play on Saturday. So we will make changes but we’ll be very strong.”
Speaking about cup competitions, Bruce said: “I think you could say that with all competitions in the early stages, they don’t catch fire until you get to the last. We’ve been in two quarter-finals over the last couple of years and unfortunately drew Man City in one and performed badly in the other (at Brentford last season).
“But I do realise, and I do understand, what a cup competition means and you’ve got to get over the early rounds to get into the later ones, when it comes to life. There’s nothing better than a cup run, especially if you get to the latter stages so let’s hope we can go a couple steps further than we have in the last couple of years.”
Sean Dyche also admitted: “It’s likely there will be some changes. We never thought anything other than we’ve got a tough start, on paper that is. It doesn’t always play out like that. We know that and having a Premier League club in the cup is another tough game, particularly away from home. That’s one of those things, but we will be ready.”
He added: “You want to field a team you believe can win. We have never not shown any importance of the cup competitions. It’s just a simple reality and I have said every season that I’ve been here that the main priority is the league, whether you’re in the Championship trying to win it, as we have done, or whether you’re in the Premier League trying to be in it, then it’s always going to be a priority.”
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