Alan Pardew warns Newcastle they will be a big scalp for Atromitos
The Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has told his players they will be fighting for the pride of the Premier League as they attempt to secure their passage into the Europa League.
Newcastle face the Greek side Atromitos, who finished fourth in last season's Greek Super League, in the first leg of their Europa League play-off on Thursday, their reward for a fifth-place finish last season.
However, Pardew knows that will count for little if they do not take the opportunity to book an extended stay on the European stage. He said: "For Atromitos, it's a big game – we are a big scalp for this team, we are under no illusions about that.
"We have the utmost respect for the club and for the manager. But we must look upon ourselves as ambassadors for the Premier League. We believe it's the strongest league in Europe, and we need to replicate that in terms of the performance we put out."
Newcastle arrived in Greece on Thursday with several big-name players absent, among them Fabricio Coloccini, Cheik Tioté and Demba Ba. All three are carrying minor injuries and with Saturday's trip to Chelsea looming, Pardew has decided to leave the trio on Tyneside. This could open the way for the likes of youngsters Gaël Bigirimana and Romain Amalfitano
"We have brought everybody who is fit, he said. "We have got three or four younger players who we would like to have brought but unfortunately they are injured too, so the senior group is all here.
"The problem for us is the scheduling of this game because we play Chelsea on Saturday and the heat here is going to make it difficult for us, so we have tried to factor in all that. And also to get a result, that's the most important thing."
Pardew has admitted a Football Association misconduct charge after pushing assistant referee Peter Kirkup during Saturday's 2-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur. He had until 4pm on Wednesday to respond to the FA and confirmed, as he had indicated in the aftermath of the game, that he would not fight the charge.