The team sheets are in at St. Andrew’s, where Newcastle United take on Birmingham City in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Eddie Howe hinted at rotation on Friday morning and he’s done exactly that, making nine changes against the League One leaders.

Confirmed line-up

STARTING XI: Pope – Livramento, Krafth, Burn, Targett – Longstaff, Bruno, Miley – Osula, Wilson, Willock.

SUBS: Dubravka, Ruddy, Trippier, Schar, Tonali, Isak, Hall, Murphy, Neave.

Howe has made NINE changes from Wednesday night’s 2-0 win over Arsenal in the Carabao Cup semi-final.

This sees Dubravka, Trippier, Botman, Schar, Hall, Tonali, Murphy, Gordon and Isak drop out, with Pope, Livramento, Krafth, Targett, Longstaff, Miley, Willock, Osula and Wilson taking their place.

Unless Howe has another formation up his sleeve, it seems Osula could start on the right, with Willock down the left in a 4-3-3 that sees Wilson start up top for the first time in two months.

As expected, Botman missed out after picking up a minor knock to his knee in midweek, with Barnes, Joelinton and Lascelles also absent.

Gordon is also absent and has presumably been given a complete night off, handing 17-year-old youngster Sean Neave a potential chance to appear from the bench.

Howe wary of Birmingham’s form

Speaking to the media on Friday, Howe was full of praise for Birmingham and manager Chris Davies.

“We respect them, Chris Davies has done a brilliant job. Every time you go to Birmingham, you realise the size of the club. It is a huge football club with a brilliant supporter base. It is a really good ground to play at.

“We see this as a big challenge, and we need to rise to the challenge. They are a very aggressive, a high pressing team, we cannot underestimate them in any way.”