Game On! S.C. Maritimo v Newcastle

The quest for silverware starts here! Welcome one and all to a very special 'Game On' article which this evening will see us back in European action (properly at least) for the first time in five years.

Our opponents are S.C. Maritimo of Portugal and this will be the first time we'll have played competitively at their ground.

A whole host of changes are expected for the game this evening as the squad is already weakened by injury to the likes of Fabricio Coloccini, Danny Simpson, Tim Krul and Cheik Tiote. Add to that the fact that senior stars such as Yohan Cabaye, Papiss Cisse, Demba Ba and Hatem Ben Arfa, albeit the latter courtesy of suspension, have all been left at home with an eye on the upcoming Sunday afternoon Premier League clash with Norwich.

This game gives us a chance to concentrate on some football rather than the whole Demba Ba situation that appears to be blowing around at the moment. Call me cynical, but it's funny how all of these things come up when contract negotiations are apparently ongoing between the two parties.

Anyway, moving back to the football, team news, as always, will be featured below as and when it becomes available. It will be interesting to see just what team we manage to put out and whether that team can be competitive against a side who finished fifth in the Portuguese Premier League last season.

The game is actually being broadcast live on ESPN this evening and kick-off is at the early time of 6pm. This is of course great of you have ESPN, but if you don't and are limited to watching it on the web then please feel free to post a link to any streams you may find in the 'comments' section below.

Howay the lads!

S.C. Maritimo: Salin, Briguel, Guilherme, Roberge, Olim, Miranda, Luiz, Heldon, Simao, Sami, Dias

Subs: Lima, Diogo, Rosario, Rossi, Abreu, Fidelis, Adilson

Newcastle: Rob Elliot, James Perch, Steven Taylor, Mike Williamson, Davide Santon, Gabriel Obertan, Gael Bigirimana, Dan Gosling, Haris Vuckic, Romain Amalfitano, Shola Ameobi

Subs: Steve Harper, James Tavernier, Shane Ferguson, Mehdi Abeid, Sylvain Marveaux, Sammy Ameobi, Adam Campbell