DARREN Ambrose expects Newcastle to go for broke as they kick off their UEFA Cup Group Stage campaign in Panionios' Nea Smyrni Stadium tonight.

Ambrose, who missed the first two months of the season with a knee injury, was handed a surprise recall at Charlton on Sunday as part of manager Graeme Souness' attempts to make his side a far more meaty proposition away from home.

The versatile midfielder lined up on the left-hand side of a narrow midfield four charged with the task of shutting out Charlton's most creative talents.

They succeeded for most of the game, and Souness has adopted the same technique to similar effect at both Southampton and Birmingham since replacing Sir Bobby Robson last month.

In previous seasons, Souness' more defensive system would be ideally suited to the needs of his side tonight as it would have given them the best chance of gaining an all-important clean sheet with the home leg still to come.

But, with the UEFA Cup having switched to a five-team group system, there is far more to be gained from taking a calculated gamble away from home in an attempt to claim three valuable points.

"If it had been a first-leg game like last year, we would probably have taken keeping it tight in Greece," said Ambrose, who was a late substitute in last month's 5-1 away win over Hapoel Bnei Sakhnin.

"But we're desperate to get a win because the sooner we get to six or nine points in the group the better.

"I think the manager's been looking for more of a battling, defensive type of performance away from home this season.

"He's identified that as the way to get the results we need in the Premiership because we had a poor run away from home last year and that needed to improve.

"It might be a case of keeping it tight again but, with the UEFA Cup being a group now, it's important we go out and get a result because a couple of early wins could be enough to get us through.

"So we might be looking to play out-and-out wingers and try to attack them down the flanks and get crosses into the box."

Such a change in policy would almost certainly see Ambrose left out of the starting line-up, with both Laurent Robert and James Milner more naturally suited to a winger's role.

The 20-year-old is still to find his most natural slot in the Newcastle side, despite making 40 appearances for the club since his £1m switch from Ipswich last March.

His versatility is one of his biggest weaknesses, but also one of his greatest strengths, as underlined by Sunday's gutsy display in a position he has rarely filled.

"I enjoyed it out there on the left actually," said Ambrose. "I played in that position a few times for my old club.

"There's a lot of stuff you can do out there, although it's a different position to playing on the right and you've got to learn about it.

"I kept drifting in when I should have been staying out wide, but I think that will come with time.

"There's always been competition for the wide places at Newcastle. I got in there towards the end of last season - which I was very pleased with - and I'm just looking for as many appearances as I can this year, considering the amount of wingers we've got."

Ambrose's commitment and workrate endeared him to previous boss Robson and the early indications are that Souness has been similarly impressed by a player who does not possess the same flair as some of his rivals in the United midfield.

The England Under-21 international feared being frozen out after picking up a knee injury prior to Souness' arrival on Tyneside but, after battling back to fitness, he was delighted to be given an immediate chance to impress.

"I'm delighted to be back," he said. "And I was delighted to be named in the team on Sunday.

"I was out for nine weeks and I'd only had an hour in the reserves before the weekend. So to put me straight back into the first team was a boost in confidence for me.

"It was very frustrating to get injured when I did because every player wants to impress a new manager straight away.

"The same thing happened with Sir Bobby because I was injured when I first arrived at Newcastle and then injured in pre-season.

"It happened again to me this summer, but I've been working hard in training. That paid off last weekend and, hopefully, I'll get another chance to show the manager what I can do in Greece."

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