NEWCASTLE UNITED progressed through to the FA Cup fourth round for the first time in five years before Rafael Benitez revealed he is prepared to gamble on his team selection again when he tries to end an even longer run.

The Magpies will head to Oxford United, of League One, on January 28 aiming to move through to the fifth round of the competition for the first time since 2006; dating back to before Mike Ashley took charge of the Tyneside club.

It is a woeful statistic and one which Benitez would like to eradicate, although he is in no mood to change his thinking as he knows that steering Newcastle back to the Premier League has to be the overriding priority.

Despite making eight changes for last night’s third round replay – including handing debuts to youngsters Dan Barlaser, Yasin Ben-El-Mhanni and Stuart Findlay - the Spanish boss witnessed Newcastle defeat Birmingham City 3-1.

Benitez said: “I can see us going for the next game against Oxford trying to do well. The cup competition in England is always difficult. We will try to go through. When you try to play any team at this stage of the competition then it will be difficult. Hopefully we will have more players coming back, and we can manage it better.

“It is always important to win any game, in any competition. We are happy to go through and we will try to continue. If we can carry on we will try. But ... I don’t want to lie … we will use the squad because we need to protect players and we will try to beat Oxford.”

Among the changes made against Birmingham was the recall of Jonjo Shelvey after the completion of the five-match ban dished out to him for using racially abusive language towards Wolves’ Romain Saiss; a misconduct charge Shelvey denied.

The £10m man was handed the captain’s armband against Birmingham and he ran the show from midfield. His pass created the penalty for Matt Ritchie to convert in the tenth minute before he teed up Yoan Gouffran for the second ten minutes before half-time and again Ritchie for the third in stoppage-time.

Benitez is looking forward to having him available against Rotherham on Saturday in the Championship. He said: “It is important to have players around like him, with his quality. He can pass the ball, he can make the others play and it is a big boost for us as a team to see Jonjo controlling the tempo of a game.

“He was not too long away and we knew that. Hopefully he will show in the next games how important he is for us, we saw his quality, his passing and he can do the same in the league games. He can make a difference.”

Benitez, asked if he had any qualms about making him captain, said: “No doubts. We had the hearing, we thought it was a surprise how some of the players from the other team went on. For us it doesn’t change anything. He has to try to play football, he is a good player. If he concentrates on football then he can make the difference.”

It was also a big night for the young debutants and Benitez felt it was a bonus for the whole club that Newcastle won with Barlaser, Ben El-Mhanni and Findlay in the side.

He said: “We knew we had to make changes, the problem is we lost four players in the last few games and because of the Africa Cup of Nations so we had to use the squad. It was important to win but also important to use the squad.

“It was important for the young players, important for the academy players, all the staff to see some players in the first team. A big plus for the players and for the academy system here.

“The happiest man will be Barlaser because it is his birthday (20 on the same day), he will remember it all of his life. It is important for them to work hard and after the three of them worked hard, they are part of this team to win the game.”

Benitez is waiting for some good news on the recruitment front and is known to have asked Newcastle to contact Crystal Palace to see how feasible a deal to bring Andros Townsend back is. Middlesbrough are also keen.

The Newcastle boss said: “I was speaking with Lee Charnley (the manging director) before the game. Hopefully he is working this evening and he will give me a surprise in a few hours, a few days. We will keep working.”