We always expected Glenn Roeder to field a reserve side, having already qualified for the next round, so don't read too much into the injury list.
Michael Owen, Shola Ameobi, Damien Duff, Craig Moore, Stephen Carr, Olivier Bernard and Tim Krul are genuinely on the injury list, and James Milner and Celestine Babayaro face late fitness checks with Kieron Dyer and Scott Parker sitting this one out.
Roeder: "We have 10 or 11 what I would call senior players missing from the squad, and seven of those who are injured would be certain starters had they been fit.
"But I have always said that gives someone else an opportunity and tomorrow, maybe two or three of the kids will get an opportunity they never thought they would get so early."
Keeper Fraser Forster, defenders Paul Huntington and David Edgar, midfielders Matty Pattison, James Troisi and Kris Gate and striker Andy Carroll are all included in the squad.