Eddie Howe fields strong Newcastle United XI and names inexperienced bench

Newcastle United take on La Liga side Real Vallecano at home this afternoon ahead of Tuesday night’s Carabao Cup tie against Bournemouth at St James’s Park.

Pope and Trippier returned to training this week, but Callum Wilson – who was also at the World Cup with England – is not involved along with Bruno Guimaraes, who is back on Tyneside after playing for Brazil in the tournament. Howe, United’s head coach, is without 16 first-team players for the fixture, which follows a 5-0 win over Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia last week.

"Rayo are a team that have been in very impressive form in Spain,” said Howe, “We know they will provide a tough but beneficial test for us.”

NEWCASTLE UNITED: Pope, Trippier, Lascelles, Botman, Targett, Shelvey, S Longstaff, Willock, Murphy, Saint-Maximin, Wood. Subs: Gillespie, Brookwell, Carlyon, Scott, Stephenson, Crossley, Ndiweni, Turner-Cooke, A Murphy, L Miley.