Newcastle United manager Sam Allardyce admits he faces a tough challenge in keeping Obafemi Martins content, as the player expects to be substitute again at Pride Park on Monday.
Bill Shankly Said It All!
The competition for two places is a four-way fight between Martins, Mark Viduka, Shola Ameobi and the in-form Michael Owen. Although some could argue Viduka is a cert for the Derby fixture.
Over the summer the Nigerian was persistently linked with a move to Arsenal, but now the transfer window is closed Big Sam has four months to show the Nigerian he is wanted at St James' Park.
Allardyce: "There is a difficult situation for me there because Oba is not going to be totally satisfied if he is on the bench too long," Allardyce said.
"I have to manage that situation like I have with all the other squad players who expect to be playing rather than not.
"I hopefully can manage that as well as I possibly can and keep all the players as happy as I can, and then when they do get an opportunity to play, they grasp that opportunity and make life difficult for me to leave them out again."