Newcastle United manager Chris Hughton has made 9 changes to the side which beat West Ham at the weekend, recalling James Perch, Wayne Routledge, Alan Smith, Ryan Taylor and Peter Lovenkrands for tonights game against Arsenal. Andy Carroll is on the bench alongside Joey Barton, Cheik Tiote and Jose Enrique, whilst Shola Ameobi is noticeably absent.
Newcastle United
Tim Krul, Ryan Taylor, Mike Williamson, Tamas Kadar, James Perch, Wayne Routledge, Alan Smith, Danny Guthrie, Haris Vuckic, Nile Ranger, Peter Lovenkrands.
Subs
Ole Soderberg, Fabricio Coloccini, Jose Enrique, Joey Barton, Cheik Tiote, Jonas Gutierrez, Andy Carroll.
Arsenal
Wojciech Szczesny, Emmanual Eboue, Laurent Koscielny, Johan Djourou, Kieran Gibbs, Denilson, Eastmond, Tomas Rosicky, Theo Walcott, Nicklas Bendtner, Carlos Vela.
Smith was diving into tackles all over the place today, and had a cracking shot hit the bar. Fighting for a first team place, although he'll have a job on to take Tiote out of the side. Brilliant to have a bit of competition for places anyway.
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I agree Smith was up for it, and that's good to see. I still don't think I could start him over Tiote, though. He was fouling rashly. I don't know. I'd say give him a go up top, but AC and wor Kev seem to have built a good understanding.
Honestly, for the good of everyone involved maybe it's best if we get a decent fee from a team that really could use him during the summer. When HBA and Gosling are back in the frame I can't see him playing a role at all, I really can't.
He could maybe do a job up front still, we could try him off the bench at some point, after all, he can't really do much worse than Ameobi. He's worth a go, despite not having scored in however long it is now. That strike where hit the bar the other night though, promising. Give him a go, nothing to lose.
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