RAFAEL BENITEZ is frustrated that Newcastle United will not have more fans at the KCOM Stadium for the EFL Cup quarter-final with Hull City but hopes to put on a show for those who are there.

The Magpies, whose nine-match winning run came to an end against Blackburn on Saturday, head to Humberside on Tuesday night looking to book a first semi-final spot since 2005.

But Hull’s decision not to increase the allocation for away fans from 2,474 - ten per cent of the 25,000 capacity - despite poor ticket sales means that the venue could be around half full.

Benitez, who was keen not to criticise the Tigers’ stance, thinks it is a shame there will not be a bigger crowd for a last eight tie.

He said: “I would like to see our fans as many as we can have there. But I can’t control the policy they decide. Football now, with a lot of TV, has to be more for the fans going to the stadium, enjoying it and creating an atmosphere that will be good for the game. But I cannot change that.

“When you have an opportunity to have a lot of fans there at the stadium and you cannot do it, it’s not normal, you see half the stadiums empty in Spain or 20 per cent occupied in Italy, “And here when you have an opportunity and you don’t do that but you can do nothing. I don’t think it would have given us an advantage, it would have been more or less the same.

“It would have been giving more fans an opportunity to see the game live. That’s always different to when you see the game on TV.”

Newcastle’s only fresh injury problem is to Jesus Gamez. The full-back is facing an extended time on the sidelines and could have to have surgery on a suspected fractured collar bone.

Benitez said: “We are waiting because maybe he will need an operation, we have to see. Today and maybe tomorrow it’s just to make sure he is fine because the bone is a little bit high. It’s not serious but you have to do it just in case it gets worse.

“It’s better than we expected after the game. If he has the operation they have said around six weeks. You never know because each one is different, but more or less this time.

“We have other players with little things but nothing new. We have to manage the players we have, so nothing important that a player can’t play. Sometimes I like to protect players and not to take a risk.”