Howe drops a hint about his selection v United

The Magpies beat Manchester City in the previous round and will bring 7,000 supporters to Old Trafford, hoping to secure a place in the quarter-finals.

It is the first of three huge games for Newcastle, who are set to host Arsenal in the Premier League on Saturday before travelling to Germany for a Champions League match at Borussia Dortmund.

The Magpies are currently without six first-team players, too. Sandro Tonali is serving a 10-month suspension, while Alexander Isak, Jacob Murphy, Elliot Anderson, Sven Botman and Harvey Barnes are all injured.

In his pre-match press conference, Howe suggested he will make use of the squad: “It’s a busy period for us. A lot of games. We look forward to Manchester United next. We’re going to have to utilise our squad, we have another game against Arsenal a couple of days later and then we go to Dortmund.

“To not use our squad would be foolish but that doesn’t mean that we don’t trust and back our squad to be able to go to Old Trafford and try to win the game. 

“You can have a game where you lose one or two players and suddenly the outlook on the squad and dynamic of the squad changes but you just have to roll with the punches. You have to absorb the hits and have to find a way, which is what we’ll try to do.

“It’s not ideal for us, especially with the season we have. It’s a totally different feel to last season where we could maybe absorb those hits a bit easier with the week-to-week games. 

“We’re not in that position now so we’re going to need everybody in the squad to step up which I think is the key message. Everyone has to give a bit more. Every player in the squad is so important and has a huge role to play.”

On the match itself, Howe praised Erik ten Hag’s United, the team they lost to in the final of the competition last year. He said his team will do everything they can to reach the next round.

“Manchester United are a top team with top players,” said the Newcastle boss. “They’ll, no doubt, possibly rotate their squad, their team, but that is slightly unclear until we get the teamsheet.

“I think one of the key tests of any team is how you respond to setbacks. We had one against Borussia Dortmund and I thought it was a good response from the group at the weekend in a really good game against Wolves so I think that’s always what you’re looking to do when you’re in the manager’s position. Our emotion is to try to prepare and win the game.

“One win and we’re into the quarter-final of the competition. We loved our run in it last year and we’re determined to try and do as well as we can despite the fact we do have a few injuries and the squad will be stretched to a degree. We’ll still try and be competitive.”

United v Newcastle kicks off at the later time of 20:15 GMT and live radio commentary will be available in the United App.