Zeljeznicar Sarajevo v Newcastle United Kick-off: 7.15 Jermanine Jenas looks set for his European debut tonight as Newcastle seek to safely negotiate the away leg of their Champions League qualifier against Bosnia's Zeljeznicar. The 19-year-old midfielder is favourite to start after Clarence Acuna pulled out of last night's training with an ankle injury.
Jenas filled Acuna's position and hopes to get the same responsibility in what is expected to be a hostile atmosphere at Sarajevo's Olympic Stadium. Bobby Robson's other option is to move Hugo Viana into central midfield and play Olivier Bernard out wide.
Newcastle are without four other injured players - Gary Speed, Craig Bellamy, Carl Cort and Laurent Robert - for the first leg of a qualifier which will propel one team into the first group stage of the Champions League and bring them an estimated £15 million.
The losers will go into the UEFA Cup but Robson has his sights beyond that. Last season his players failed to reach that competition after losing a InterToto Cup final to Troyes.
"Now we are playing for even bigger stakes," Robson said. "It's a nice cushion to know we will be in Europe even if we lose but that's not what we want. We are looking to get into the big stuff."
Zeljeznicar's striker Amar Gredic provided additional motivation for Newcastle with his pre-match comments. "Does (Alan) Shearer think he is better than me because he cost £15 million and I'd be only worth £1 million? I don't think so. All the English players are overpriced and their reputations mean nothing."
Guardian Service
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)